Perhaps
I didn’t have the best mentality going into Two-Lane Blacktop to begin with.
I’m at the point where I am a little tired of road and car movies so to hear
Dr. Lennon say we are done with road movies was very refreshing though I think
we could have ended it on a better note rather this droll and slow action movie
staring a couple of iconic rock stars, the late Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys
and legendary James Taylor. I was less then stellar with their performances in
the film and just the film in general.
Considering
I have never really been a fan of road and car films anyway I had to look past
that and find aspects of the film I could relate too. I have been able to do
that with every film except Two-Lane Blacktop, though I did find a few I enjoyed.
I liked that the characters didn’t have a name “the Mechanic, The Driver, The
girl, The GTO”. That is the only thing you needed to know in terms of
characters. While the acting was less then superb I thought the characters did
a good job at staying true especially the rockstars leads who felt out of
place, not to mention frustrated after doing a hundred takes of the same shot.
The
film’s plot is simple, '55 Chevy takes on a '70 GTO in a race across the
Southwest. They put their pink slips in an envelope and mail it to their
destination and the first person that gets their waits for their new car. I
really enjoyed the sceneria in the film on a side note. I have driven across
country to California so despite the filming being 40 years ago I actually felt
déjà vu, particularly the scenes going through California and Arizona. The GTO
has a lot of hilarious dialogue with people he meets on the road. It seemed
like the hitchhikers are doing him the favor of keeping him company versus
giving the hitchhiker a ride being the favor. I actually bein to feel bad for
the GTO a little bit through out the film, though I think he has the nicest car
in the film.
The
final scene of the film has a very awkward ending I felt. The drag race in
Tennessee, the Driver’s expression is scary to say the least, I felt as if I
was meeting this character for the first time. During the actual race the film
slows down and the music drops almost completely. Then it looks as if the film
just burns out something I have never seen before. This scene was very dark and
dramatic making the final scene in Thelma and Louise where they jump a cliff
look like the ending look It’s a Wonderful Life.
I can see that it was hard for you to get into the film, especially considering the premise didn't appeal to you on any level. I think the only part most viewers could relate to is the road trip aspect. We have all been in the car staring out the window before. Otherwise, I think viewers generally had a hard time connecting with the characters because they were so dry and boring and we didn't get much back-story or emotion for any of them. Though, as you pointed out, GTO was the most interesting by far. Maybe you could have gone into more detail about the last scene, but you got your point across.
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