Two-Lane Blacktop

Two-Lane Blacktop (Criterion #414). 1971 Universal Pictures.
Starring: James Taylor, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, Dennis Wilson
Director: Monte Hellman
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Two drag racers known only as the Driver (Taylor) and the Mechanic (Wilson) drift from town to town, making a living by challenging local residents to races. The film begins with them driving their 1955 Chevy 150 east on Route 66, picking up a girl (Bird) in Flagstaff, Arizona. In New Mexico, another drag racing drifter (Oates) diving a bright orange 1970 Pontiac GTO agrees to a cross-country race to Washington D.C., and the winner gets the loser's car.

Having slept with both the Driver and Mechanic on the way east, the Girl leaves with the GTO driver in Arkansas. The Driver decides to pursue them, finding both at a diner where the Girl has just rejected GTO's idea to visit Chicago. She instead leaves with a biker instead of going with the Driver and Mechanic to Columbus, Ohio to pick up new parts. By this time, the race is largely forgotten. The GTO driver is seen picking up two soldiers, telling his new passengers that he won his new car driving a 1955 Chevrolet (he had been giving his passengers totally different stories of his life). The movie ends with the Driver competing in a dragrace on an airstrip somewhere in Tennessee.

Two-Lane Blacktop was the only film role taken by Taylor and Wilson, and reportedly, Taylor still has never seen the finished film after nearly forty years. Regardless of who has seen it, and who hasn't, it's a very interesting and exciting road movie with its existentialist message. Recommended.