Review of Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) by Patrick D — 02 Jan 2009

This film works sort of like a response to Easy Rider. Accept these characters aren't really looking for some kind of spiritual answer to some big unnamed question. These people have reached a sort of plateau. The two young dudes have now achieved a super fast hot rod, and just seem to be racing around going nowhere really, but traveling many miles going there. The girl is just lost and is hitching rides looking for something, but seems to have almost accepted that there's nothing out there. Now Warren Oates' character is really interesting. He's sort of like the older version of the two young guys, he's plateaued years and years ago and has now gone sort of crazy, constantly lies, and it strangely delusional. As if he is just looking for a purpose somehow but all he knows is cars and his sweet GTO. As for the guys, they are on there way to Oates' situation and really all they talk about is cars and racing.

Anyway all the parties meet and get involved in this mass race with each other. For the guys it seems like a last effort for meaning, for the girl it seems like something fun to get involved in, and Oates, well it's hard to tell.

Interestingly there's elements of the martial arts film with these Ronin types wandering around from town to town challenging others, but not with physical combat, with car speed.

Either way this is a film that sort of defies a good summary and is one you gotta just see, a great road movie.