reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (04/01/85)
"Deadhead Miles" is a peculiar little comedy made by
Paramount in 1971. After looking at it, they decided that they
didn't have the vaguest idea what to do with it, so they shelved
it. Filmex, that white knight of forgotten and neglected films,
persuaded the studio to let it see the light of day, at least
long enough for a couple of screenings. Perhaps it will get
further release, perhaps not. Paramount was probably correct in
their assessment that it won't make much money, but "Deadhead
Miles" is the sort of film that could do a good, steady business
as a midnight movie in the larger cities, so maybe the studio can
get a few bucks back on their investment that way.
Strongly influenced by "Easy Rider", "Deadhead Miles" is a
true artifact of its era. The story, if one can call it a story,
concerns a trucker (Alan Arkin) who works for a shady hauling
outfit. He's given a newly hijacked truck, complete with cargo
but repainted and otherwise camouflaged, to drive to an unspeci-
fied destination. For no apparent reason other than sheer
cussedness, he ditches his co-driver and takes off with the truck
on his own. He has little or no idea about what to do with his
truck or its cargo (thousands of carburetors), other than some
rather vague notions concerning Mexico. He simply sets out west,
and the rest of the film is his journey.
Early on, he picks up a hitchhiker, and a couple of small
additional cargos. He's sometimes a little worried about the
police, but usually treats them with a superior contempt which is
completely unfounded. Even though he really has nowhere to go,
he's in a great hurry to get there, but not so great that he
won't take time out for incomprehensible side trips. Basically,
Arkin drives across the western United States acting borderline
crazy, and that's the film.
The plot synopsis might make it sound like I didn't like
"Deadhead Miles", but that's not quite true. It's just that the
film is very hard to get a handle on. Perhaps its point is best
expressed by an exchange between Arkin and the hitchhiker (Paul
Benedict) in which Benedict suggests that he might be crazy, and
Arkin counters that he's no more crazy than anyone else. Direc-
tor Vernon Zimmerman and screenwriter Terrence Malick may be sug-
gesting that everyone really is nuts. Or perhaps they are sug-
gesting something else. Whatever, I found the movie to be fun,
in a disjointed kind of way.
The major assets are Arkin and Malick's script. Arkin has
never been better than this portrayal of a loony trucker without
much direction. His idiotic schemes to get around obstacles are
hilariously true to life, particularly because, once in a while,
they work, just like in real life. Arkin is the epitome of a
redneck gone slightly bananas. Benedict, a familiar character
actor, makes a good foil, but his character's motivations are
even more opaque than Arkin's, and he doesn't get the good lines.
The rest of the cast is mostly cameos, including very brief bits
from Ida Lupino and George Raft, and somewhat more substantial
parts for Charles Durning, Loretta Swit, Richard Kiel, and direc-
tor John Milius (back when he was just a scriptwriter himself).
Malick, who has gone on to direct "Days of Heaven" and "Bad-
lands", is responsible both for the strengths and weaknesses of
"Deadhead Miles". There is no direction in the script. On the
other hand, there are many excellent lines and hilarious bits.
My favorite line, which I would instantly incorporate into my
signature if I believed in quotes in signatures, occurs when Ar-
kin drops into a trailer park to visit his wife, only to discover
that she's packed up and left, taking the trailer, without leav-
ing any word: "Did you ever meet someone who said "We'll be wild
and crazy and free", and then discover she was using the imperial
"we"?"
Zimmerman directs very much in the spirit of the thing, with
a loose hand and a willingness to take detours, even relatively
unpromising ones. Either a firmer hand or a more warped mind
might have been better for the film, though. Zimmerman has his
moments, such as a montage in which Arkin teaches Benedict the
proper way to throw bottles out of a moving truck so as to hit
road signs. By and large, though, Zimmerman does not contribute
an awful lot to "Deadhead Miles".
Lots of people walked out of the screening of "Deadhead
Miles", and I can't say I blame them. "Deadhead Miles" is a pro-
totypical "matter of taste". Whether or not you will enjoy it
depends very much on your state of mind and your willingness to
surrender yourself to a very different kind of movie. It's de-
finitely not the film for someone who sees six movies a year. If
you go to it with an open mind and won't be too upset if you
don't really like it, then "Deadhead Miles" might be worth see-
ing. Of course, the hard part is finding it to see at all.
"Deadhead Miles" certainly had one effect on me: it engendered a
great desire to have the run of the Hollywood studios' film
vaults for a few months, so I could get a look at what else they
have socked away there.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher