Two-Lane Blacktop

A '55 Chevy takes on a '70 GTO in a race across the Southwest in Monte Hellman's cult favorite. The Driver (James Taylor) and the Mechanic (Dennis Wilson) phlegmatically slouch from race to race, pitting their gray Chevy against any and all gearheads in order to make money for gas and food. They and ...more

1971 was a banner year for existential road movies, as Two-Lane Blacktop and Vanishing Point hit theaters within four months of each other, but Two-Lane Blacktop has stood the test of time as the stronger, more compelling picture. Monte Hellman's deliberate pacing and sharp widescreen framings capture the drivers' wanderlust and obsession with speed with a determined casualness that allows us to look past the cars and into the minds of the men who drive them. The screenplay by Rudy Wurlitzer and ...more