OK, it’s not major news, as it was announced perhaps a month a go or more, but we’d like to take a moment to say how excited we are for the return of Monte Hellman’s cult minimalist, existentialist roadtrip 1971 classic “Two-Lane Blacktop.”
The curious little picture is somewhat odd, slow, minimalist and almost meandering, but it’s leftfield in a excellent manner. Starring James Taylor, Beach Boy Dennis Wilson and the super underappreciated gruff ’60s/’70s actor and Peckinpah favorite Warren Oates, “Two-Lane Blacktop” is one of those little-seen gems that’s worth rediscovering (and no matter if the leads were music-based or not).
And no, interestingly enough, the musical duo had nothing to do with the film’s score and simply just act in their naive, but natural ways (noticable tracks: The Doors’ “Moonlight Drive,” the traditional folk tune “Stealin'” performed by Arlo Guthrie, and Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee”)
The DVD (replete with extras naturally) is due in January from the tastemaking archivists at the Criterion Collection. Their synopsis:
Drag racing east from L.A. in a souped-up ’55 Chevy are the wayward Driver and Mechanic (singer/songwriter James Taylor and the Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson, in their only acting roles), accompanied by a tagalong Girl (Laurie Bird). Along the way, they meet Warren Oates’s Pontiac GTO-driving wanderer and challenge him to a cross-country race—the prize: their cars’ pink slips. Yet no summary can do justice to the existential punch of Two-Lane Blacktop. Maverick director Monte Hellman’s stripped-down narrative, gorgeous widescreen compositions, and sophisticated look at American male obsession make this one of the artistic high points of 1970s cinema, and possibly the greatest road movie ever made.
‘Blacktop’ screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer would also go one to write Sam Peckinpah’s “Pat Garett & Billy The Kid” and Alex Cox’s little-seen Western classic “Walker” (all three of these films would have musical connections – Dylan acting and scoring in ‘Billy,’ the aforementioned actors in “Blacktop,’ and the Clash’s Joe Strummer scoring and making a cameo in Cox’ “Walker”).
A tribute album for this movie, You Can Never Go Fast Enough, was released in 2003 and it featured appreciative, inspired by songs from folks like Cat Power, Calexico, Sonic Youth and Wilco.
Scene from “Two-Lane Blacktop”
Download: Dennis Wilson – “Farewell My Friend”