Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)

Two-Lane Blacktop (R) - Review

"What are you, trying to blow my mind?"

Two teens in a primer grey '55 Chevy roam Route 66 looking for their next Drag race win, fueling a lifestyle that is only interrupted when they get involved with a female hitchhiker and a middle-aged man with delusions of grandeur.  Cult-classic road movie dips deep into the then up and coming counterculture,  classic cars and 70's muscle culture, and New-Wave film cultures and comes out smelling like fresh diesel fumes.  Further increasing its niche appeal are its two leads, played by Rock N Roll icons James Taylor and Dennis Wilson from the Beach Boys.  Similar in theme or thematic to "American Graffiti" or "Easy Rider", Two-Lane is however not drenched in period music or nostalgic imagery.  The loud drone and grind of the engines are the main soundtrack, the haunting visuals from a time-period long remembered yet long gone from the American landscape are it's canvas.  Gritty real locations and non-actors are just blurs through the windshield as the poor boys race an embarrassingly expensive GTO to Washington DC for pinks, passively aggressively fight over their female hitchhiker and avoid the boring rat race of normal American lives and the oppressive authorities who enforce it.  Pop the clutch, shift it into overdrive and enjoy the numbing rattle of the steering wheel as you start to pull away.

8.5 Coke Bottles and Hamburgers out of 10 (GREAT)