james taylor was like a zombie in this film - Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) Discussion

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] HoBopkins 16 years ago

i agree. it is a great film. i love it. there's no other film like it.

but james taylor was playing a zombie. i am 100% convinced that his character had gotten a frontal lobotomy or something. wilson had a little more personality but not much.

now i realize this was intentional, that the two main characters were very low-key, but i think this was the director's way of compensating for their lack of acting skill.

and as for them being cast when they were musicans and not actors, the question is: why were they cast and not professional actors? there were plenty of great lowkey actors like paul koslo or billy greenbush that could have had more animation.

for me, it wasn't the delivery of their lines, it was the animation on their faces. actors have their entire lives on their face. taylor and wilson were like clean slates, reminding me of that guy from the "SPUD BEER" commercial from the original SNL.

but then you see warren oates, and you realize what a real actor can do. how they are lit up. they exist as complete human beings with a past and present and future right on that screen.

it's like watching keano reeves in matrix. he did okay in that film, because his lowkey personality merited the character. they played him safe, like they did wilson and talyor.

but then you see reeves acting oppoite joe paliotonon (i know i spelled his name wrong and im sorry), you see the difference, like when you see taylor and wilson opposite oates.

anyhow, it's a great film. im watching it right now as a matter of fact.

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[–] lnoft97 15 years ago

Uh, James Taylor chose to spend much of his life as a zombie. Didn't you know he's been a raging heroin addict for decades (don't know if he's cleaned up in his old age). He performed in concerts while seated because, duh, he'd fall over if he stood up for too long.

I'm looking forward to watching this on TCM later this week, been years since I saw it.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Eric-1226 15 years ago

I don't know, I think it was intentional on the director's part to make Taylor and Wilson as low-key as possible, so as to contrast them with GTO. Notice also that the car they drove had no dazzling character, at least as far as outer appearances go: it was really a drab-looking car, painted just primer-grey, with the inside gutted out for racing. And notice too that Taylor and Wilson wore really basic clothing, like jeans and T-shirts and such. But both they and their car could really kick some ass on the race track. So maybe it was supposed to be a way of saying something like, "Outside appearances can be false and misleading - it's what's inside that counts."

Now, contrast Taylor, Wilson and their '55 Chev with the "loud" GTO character (Warren Oates and his shiny bright yellow GTO). Oates's character was overflowing with personality. And he dressed like a real dandy. I lost count of how many different colored sweaters he put on. Seems like he had a different colored sweater for each scene (much like he had a different history about his past in nearly every scene). So he and his car were the polar opposite of the other team. But in spite of all his animated personality, he came across as phony and also a bit screwed up in the head, what with all of his reinvented histories of himself. So I think in reality he was the empty one.

"I've always tried to teach you two things. First: Never let them see you bleed. Second: Always have an escape plan." - Q

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[–] smiles1940 15 years ago

I think this is a very astute statement.

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[–] derekwh 15 years ago

This movie was a part of my era, the driver and mechanic wore clothes that we wore, jeans and tee shirts, growing up in northern california many of the people I knew could have been interchanged with these two. I did a lot of cross country road trips in the 70's though usually in a panel truck. There is something about being on the road that puts you in a zone, not unlike the drivers.

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[–] Katz5 14 years ago

James Taylor was even lower key than Peter Fonda was in Easy Rider - their characters were similar in their quiet qualities and aloof behavior. Dennis Wilson was not much like Billy (Dennis Hopper), however.

Dude means nice guy. Dude means a regular sort of person.

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[–] Zoomorph 13 years ago

Why do you think the driver and mechanic characters should be played any differently? How would that be more realistic or enhance the film whatsoever? (What entertains you more is not important.)

~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~

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[–] jac91604 13 years ago

No wonder Taylor didn't continue pursuing acting, he was awful, really, really awful.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] franzkabuki 11 years ago

An almost disturbing kind of single mindedness and a very narrow emotional range these two characters had, yes. Racin´ on...

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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[–] rjr573 11 years ago

I think it's their emotionless personalities that make their performances great... To be a car guy like them is to realize nothing else but the car matters.

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[–] Razzbar 10 years ago

His singing is about the same.

Clearly, this is not a movie featuring intense dialogs. I don't care, the guys are supposed to be taciturn and only interested in racing. No, there wasn't any great acting in it, but it was adequate and appropriate for the story.

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