Two-Lane Blacktop is a 1971 American road film directed and edited by Monte Hellman, from a screenplay by Rudy Wurlitzer and Will Corry.
[3] Director Monte Hellman, who had previously worked in low-budget and independent films, developed the screenplay with Wurlitzer, then-known mainly as an underground writer, during an actual cross-country road trip.
The Driver proposes a trip to Columbus, Ohio, for car parts, but she rebuffs him as well, instead leaving with a stranger on a motorcycle and abandoning her belongings in the parking lot.
Later, GTO picks up two soldiers and boasts that he won his car by defeating two men in a cross-country race involving a custom 1955 Chevrolet 150.
[10] He convinced the production company to pay Will Corry $100,000[11] for his original story, about two men, one black and one white, who drive across the country followed by a young girl, which was inspired by his own cross-country journey in 1968.
[10] In February 1970, Hellman began location scouting and was a few weeks from principal photography when Cinema Center suddenly canceled the project.
[10][15] Gregory Sandor shot the entire film, but due to union issues, camera operator Jack Deerson was hired and credited as director of photography.
[13] Unlike other existential road movies of the time (such as Easy Rider and Vanishing Point), Two-Lane Blacktop does not rely heavily on music, nor was a soundtrack album released.
In 2003 Plain Records issued a tribute album made in honor of this cult classic called "You Can Never Go Fast Enough" featuring exclusive tracks by Wilco, Sonic Youth, Will Oldham/Alan Licht, Calexico & Giant Sand, Suntanama, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Charalambides, Mark Eitzel/Marc Capelle, Roy Montgomery and Alvarius B with rare tracks by Cat Power, Roscoe Holcomb, Lead Belly and Sandy Bull.
The film opened and disappeared so quickly that at the end of 1971, Esquire included its own cover prediction as part of its annual Dubious Achievements of the Year Awards.
[citation needed] Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "What I liked about Two-Lane Blacktop was the sense of life that occasionally sneaked through, particularly in the character of G.T.O.
[16] In his review for The New York Times, Vincent Canby wrote, "Two-Lane Blacktop is a far from perfect film (those metaphors keep blocking the road), but it has been directed, acted, photographed and scored (underscored, happily) with the restraint and control of an aware, mature filmmaker".
Even the small touches — the languid tension while refueling at a back-country gas station or the piercing sound of an ignition buzzer — have their own intricate worth".
[18] In his review for the Village Voice, J. Hoberman wrote, "Two-Lane Blacktop is a movie of achingly eloquent landscapes and absurdly inert characters".
[19] In his review for the Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "The movie starts off as a narrative, but gradually grows into something much more abstract — it's unsettling, but also beautiful".
[21] The site's critical consensus reads, "Beautifully directed and utterly unique, Two-Lane Blacktop captures the spirit of its era as smoothly as it evokes the feeling of the open road.
[12] For years, Universal had been looking for a partner to give Two-Lane Blacktop a proper release befitting its cult film status.
Director William Lustig, also a "technical advisor" for Anchor Bay, got Hellman to approach the surviving band members to get their approval.
[12] The limited edition DVD was packed in a metal tin and extras included a 48-page booklet featuring behind-the-scenes photographs and liner notes about director Monte Hellman, a 5" X 7" theatrical poster replica, and a die-struck miniature car key chain.
Two-Lane Blacktop is notable as a time capsule film of U.S. Route 66 during the pre-interstate highway era, and for its stark footage and minimal dialogue.
[26] [27] It has been compared to similar road movies with an existentialist message from the era, such as Vanishing Point, Easy Rider, and Electra Glide in Blue.