Two-Lane Blacktop, Monte Hellman's existential road trip masterpiece, turns 50 today. Here's JacobOller on its timeless appeal:
is a modernized amalgamation of thoughtful cowboys and their quietly posturing conflicts in what passes for an automotive frontier story. Two non-actors play the central Men with No Names in their only film roles: Dennis Wilson plays The Mechanic and James Taylor plays The Driver. The duo’s 1955 Chevrolet 150 picks up Laurie Bird’s hitchhiker and butts heads with Warren Oates’ GTO-flaunting bag of hot air. A contest of wills is determined.
It’s no wonder that Hellman, who died in April at age 91, got his start driving a truck and directing the first Los Angeles production of. Samuel Beckett’s a constant invisible passenger throughout the relatively plotless meanderings of the movie’s trip. In fact, it could’ve easily shared a title with Hellman’s final film,. There’s a feeling of treading water that’s ironically ever-present in fast-car movies and fast-car realities: Even the best NASCAR driver’s still going in circles.