Deadhead Miles

Cross Joseph Minion and Hunter S. Thompson and you will have some idea what to expect from this fantastic, rare, criminally under seen, barely released gonzo trucker film written by Terrence Malick before writing and directing "Badlands" a year later. Shelved by the studio and never really released; for rumor has it, being too uncommerical. Alan Arkin (who is fantastic), dressed like a sea captain, aimlessly sails the American highways in his 18 wheeler mumbling manic, southern accented non sequiturs (maybe imitating Malick himself); carnivalizing roadside stops and happenstance towns while out-weirding cops and weigh stations with his new cryptic, overcoated hitchhiker buddy (Paul Benedict).

Malick seems to have that rarified talent for illuminating and surfacing, without pretension, that hard to reach, truthful undercurrent of illogic and neurosis that permeates inside the human something (usually funneled thru American southern idiosyncrasies; and not necessarily simply trivial or humorous but often darkly honest and more viscerally sublimely truthful about the feelings of this existence, at least for me, than any other kind of stab at something pure (Joseph Minion is the organic crown prince of this; team this film up with "Vampire's Kiss" (1989) or "Motorama" (1991) (more externally thematically similar because it's also a "road movie") and you'll see what I mean), which I think is often more evident in his earlier only scripted works (this film, "The Dion Brothers" (aka The Gravy Train) (1974), and "Pocket Money" (1972) and still later in his self-directed works (most noticeable in "Badlands"), is often overshadowed by a reputation for dramatic cinematic poetics (but we true Malick fans know that he isn't that simple). "Deadhead Miles", I gather, is a trucker's term for driving a semi with no load in the trailer; hence Arkin's character and not necessarily his truck. Hilarious and sublime; I loved it. Highly Recommended.

Truly weird and whacked out.

Watch it for Arkin's great over-the-top acting. Watch it just to hear the Dave Dudley soundtrack. Watch it for the great New Mexico scenery. Watch it for that beautiful Peterbuilt. Watch it for the scene where Arkin throws bottles out of his cab at various objects along the road.

Why this movie isn't a cult flick is most likely only due to fact that it's so hard to find. It's virtually unrentable, and it's never on tv anymore.

DEADHEAD MILES, never released theatrically, showed up a few times on cable in the 1980s, then vanished again. One has to wonder why? The fact is, despite being virtually plot less, this is a very entertaining film, and the fact that it is so scarce seems to add to its mystique. It is just a series of vignettes with Alan Arkin traveling across country in his semi-truck, but it works.

Not mentioned in most of the IMDb write-ups is Bruce Bennett, who scores in a bit as a truck-driving ghost, a literalization of an old truck-driving legend. The fact that it is Bennett (of all people) adds to the film's eccentricities. By all means, see DEADHEAD MILES if you can find it. I would love to see it get more exposure again.

I saw this film at the old LA International Film Festival back in 1984. It has also use to play on Bravo once every 3-4 hours back in the late eighties when they use to run those god awful early Fassbinder home movies the rest of the time. The Terrence Malick script has some of the funniest lines ever written but probably could have used a serious re-write, the directing is pretty awful but Alan Arkin's usual overacting acting style is really quite effective most of the time. Better than Two Lane Black Top not in the same league as Vanishing Point this road movie is more for open minded cult movie types than typical filmgoers. Also, look for a John Milius cameo as a state trooper.

I saw this movies in the early 1980s at the Toronto Festival of Festivals (as the Toronto International Film Festival was known then) at like 10 A.M. while I was waiting for the "important film" to roll. Nearly 30 years on, I can't remember what the important film was but I still have warm feelings for the road weirdness of Deadhead Miles. Partly that's because I've been a fan of Arkin's since Wait Until Dark, one of the greatest thrillers of all time. He plays one of the creepiest villains ever. At on point he explains what happened to his cohorts. He says they had plans to kill him but then: "Topsy-turvy. Me Topsy, them Turvy." It's delicious when he says it. As for Deadhead Miles and other films of legend you can't see legally or easily (A New Leaf, 1971), these are the things internet downloads were invented to deliver. We're getting closer, but we're still a few years away from a time when you'll be able to go online and download any movie or TV show their owners want to rent or sell. There are still economic and ego issues to deal with, but the promised land for film geeks is almost at hand. Next year in Hollywood.