This is a classic, but James Taylor is the worst actor! Is it just me, or does he stumble over his lines when he and the girl are sitting on the fence? Did they not have the budget to do the take over? Or re-record his voice?
share"This is a classic, but James Taylor is the worst actor! Is it just me, or does he stumble over his lines when he and the girl are sitting on the fence? Did they not have the budget to do the take over? Or re-record his voice?"
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Okay, he's no Marlon Brando, but what's this big flub you're talking about? Do you mean to say he generally flubbed and stammered his way through every single line in that particular scene?
Think of it as kinda the precursor to American Grafitti.
Monte Hellman wanted them to act like regular people. He also kept them up late at night so none of the actors could sleep, therefore they always appeared quite literally deadpan.
In American Grafitti, Lucas made the actors do take after take after take until something went wrong. That messed up take was used just so it seemed more realistic. (Notable scenes include: "Toad and the Booze Bottle", "Cindy and the 'Didja get it? Didja get it?' line")
that scene is weird but i always thought of it as the director wanted them to act as regular people as well.
I always read that part of the movie as the part of the movie where you see how nervous the girl made the driver. He is rambling about nothing and she has to interrupt him as to say shut up.....
the driver comes off as frustrated toward the girl the whole movie although it isnt directly implied until he goes to look for her later in the film.
Very good point about the similarity of the dialog errors to "American Graffiti". Let me just also add that Gary Kurtz was the associate producer of "Two-Lane Blacktop" and also produced "American Graffiti", so the connection you're making is far from tenuous.
Did I not love him, Cooch? MY OWN FLESH I DIDN'T LOVE BETTER!!! But he had to say 'Nooooooooo'
Marlon Brando mumbles a LOT! more :oD
share"They spend, uh... they come out of the ground every seven years. The only time they come out of the ground is to fall out of their skins, and grow some rings... grow some wings."
He has a couple other stutters earlier in the film.
"Weirdness was all he cared about. Weirdness and sex and plenty to drink."
The acting is not that great in the movie at all, but the way the 2 act (james and dennis) it seems like they are really high , lol, maybe they were, but it does fit with the movie. And compared to some of the musicians that act in movies nowadays , its pretty good. The movie really isn't meant to convey its message with the character's acting , its more of an experience.
shareI thought JT was pretty good. He just kind of seemed like a young jerk, and I think that's what he was supposed to be like! Maybe that's what he was really like back then.
shareAt the time I was a James Taylor fan and I went to see this movie when it came out. It's been a long time but I remember being pretty bored and how uncomfortable he was in the role. You got the feeling someone made him do this picture. I can imagine him telling his agent after "I told you I couldn't act". He was a very popular singer at the time and even his brother and sister got recording contracts on the strength of his popularity. He was the big draw for this film. You may well notice this movie didn't lead to a film career for him and rightly so.
share"At the time I was a James Taylor fan and I went to see this movie when it came out. It's been a long time but I remember being pretty bored and how uncomfortable he was in the role. You got the feeling someone made him do this picture. I can imagine him telling his agent after "I told you I couldn't act". He was a very popular singer at the time and even his brother and sister got recording contracts on the strength of his popularity. He was the big draw for this film. You may well notice this movie didn't lead to a film career for him and rightly so."
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I think Taylor's wooden Indian failures as an actor work to this particular film's benefit. A real actor would've given more nuance to a character that wasn't intended to have any.
I think he flubs a line while talking about the cicadas, but I don't have the film at hand to double check. But, to me, that seemed natural. Real people constantly stammer and mispronounce words in conversation. I do anyway.
Overall I don't care for his attempts at acting. It's too obvious that here is a non-actor trying to act. I think he would have been more effective if he put on a more laid-back persona (somewhat like the Mechanic) rather than attempt a brooding, intense style.
~~"Lucas, you and I were just friends."~~
Talking about no second takes to preserve a naturalistic performance would be fine if Taylor acted natural, but unfortunately he doesn't, he sounds like he's reading his lines, badly. What's more he's so scared he spends most of the time looking at the floor.
It's still a great film - Taylor is just the wrong guy, it could have been better. (IMHO).
This is a classic, but James Taylor is the worst actor! Is it just me, or does he stumble over his lines when he and the girl are sitting on the fence? Did they not have the budget to do the take over? Or re-record his voice?
All I can say is he was a sexy dude until he opened his mouth to speak:-) He reminded me of that guy from Fat Albert; the character that was hard to understand.
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What's all this rubbish? I showed this film to someone who had no idea who James Taylor or Dennis Wilson were, and when I asked him for his opinion on the acting he thought I was an idiot for even bringing it up. People concentrating on the acting in a picture like Two-Lane Blacktop are the same sort of people who expected high speed chases and/or Warren Oates to whip out a magnum from the glove compartment. Taylor's bored, droll presence suits the film perfectly... I didn't find anything remotely hammy about his performance, all he was really required to do was be present and say a few lines, that's it. I reckon he did it convincingly enough - reminded me of the performances in a couple of Malick movies.
STOICISM, people. Look it up!
I laughed out loud when GTO gets pulled over and The Driver tells the cop that he 'must be on something' - perfectly delivered. Damn naysayers.
as a true, southern "car guy" I will let you art school wannabes in on something.
This is about as close to a real speed crazed kid in the 70's being filmed by hidden cameras as you're ever going to get.
JT's acting genius is the total lack of acting. He's just being himself, which is what made his music so touching. No BS, no gimmicks - just real stuff people can relate to.
Wilson was also close to being real for the time, a stoner who had a gift with a wrench... not that there was much need for a 'gift' back then other than knowing which way a nut threads on a bolt.
In 1970, this movie was totally fesible... and a dream most of us wish we lived.
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I always got the impression that he was chosen because he couldn't act
his character was very awkward and withdrawn, so the fact that he fumbled through his lines seemed oddly appropriate
his entire life style was devoted to fast cars, human interaction was not his strong suit by any means
I agree totally.
I thought that it brought out that his character just didn't know how to connect with people at all.
I know people that are the same way: they can fix anything on a car but are socially awkward. James Taylor might not make it if he tried acting in a modern movie but for the time and the tone of TLB, he was perfect.
I think the Driver wished he could pick up the Girl but he didn't have the social skills for it. Maybe not though, maybe he only cared about the car.