Two-Lane Blacktop - 1971 - 4 Stars

Actors:  James Taylor, Warren Oates
Director:  Monte Hellman

Note:  Minor Spoilers Ahead

Two-Lane Blacktop's characters don't have a backstory, nor do they have a destiny.  I've been thinking a lot about why Hollywood films these days are so long these days, and it's often because we need to find out the character's backstory and their destiny.  Otherwise, why are we watching the movie?  We need to find out who these people are and what motivates them.  Two-Lane Blacktop says forget all that - you just need some fast cars and some barely-scripted dialogue, and you can make a movie out of that.  Two-Lane Blacktop comes from an era that the film is so revered as a form of entertainment that films didn't have to compete for your attention - they didn't need to justify your time or its existence.  It's a movie, you should watch it.

This film either has something much deeper going on or it has literally nothing going on at all.  I imagine some would find some of the choices pretentious or awkward, but most of them worked for me.