Today I watched VANISHING POINT, the 1971 movie starring a white Dodge Challenger and Barry Newman. The car was a lot more charismatic that its c0-star. I do not get what all the hoopla is about over this movie, which has a loyal cult following. I thought it was dull and as seemingly endless as any of its many shots of the wide open road across a vast desert. You can pass on this one.
I kinda liked this one, although it did have its draggy moments. I liked it a lot better than TWO-LANE BLACKTOP, which had a great performance by Warren Oates but was otherwise dull as dishwater.
Sorry to disagree Graham but Two Lane Blacktop is perfect 70’s film making.
The fan’s defense of TWO-LANE BLACKTOP is to claim that the dullness of the other characters is deliberate, a reflection of their (and America’s) spiritual emptiness. I think it has more to do with the fact that they are all played by non-actors: James Taylor, one of the Beach Boys, and Art Garfunkel’s girlfriend. Warren Oates would have stolen the movie in any event, but he didn’t get even token opposition this time.
As for VANISHING POINT, I presume that its cult status derives from the combination of lots of stunt driving, and the fact that the leading character is never given even one iota of motivation–leaving the viewer free to impose his own profound explanation, and allowing him to feel proud of himself for getting what others surely miss. At the right age, that is a potent combination.
VANISHING POINT played better on a hot summer night at the drive-in, especially if you were drunk or stoned. Or so I’m told.
Sorry Lee, but with all due respect to you Paul Newman remains one of the best actors of all time. You can’t judge an actor by one bad performance in a lifetime of work.
You’re right, Paul Newman is one of the best actors of all time. Barry Newman is not…and that is the actor I was talking about.