An unpleasant Aussie take on the Two Lane Blacktop meme, High Rolling--released in the States as High Rolling In a Hot Corvette--stars Joseph Bottoms as curly-haired Yank-in-the-outback Texas. Texas tries to bed every sweet young thing that crosses his path and loses his job as a result, whilst amateur boxing chum Albee (Grigor Taylor) tags along because it's better than taking a beating five times a day at the local carnival. The two of them cross paths with a gay drug dealer, steal his car and inventory, and pick up hippy chick Lynn (Judy Davis), who's on her way to join a commune. Everything about this 1977 film seems at least five years out of date: were people still turning on, tuning in, and dropping out in 1977? Bottoms' character is utterly lacking in charm and comes across as a self-centered ass; Taylor's is so bland that he could disappear from the film and no one would notice the difference. Add in some wretched singer-songwriter tunes, a mean-spirited screenplay, and some wretched sexual politics, and you have an unpleasant 90 minutes, indeed.
Review of High Rolling in a Hot Corvette
