Granddaddy of all road movies. Review on Easy Rider Movie

Ah, the 60's. A time of peace, love, hippies, drugs, sex, freedom, etc. Wow, I just watched this movie for the first time in 3 years. The first time I saw it, I thought it was just a jumble of drug-induced fantasies made by some spoiled rich kids.

Now that I've seen it again after all those years of historical perspective, I now see that it was truly a work of genius. Possible Spoiler! It isn't just a social commentary on the bigotry and hypocricy of the 1960's toward the ''long hairs.'' Underneath all the ''groovy, man'' hippie dialog and constant drug use, you can see the real purpose of the film: It is a simple but powerful statement of the futility of going down the wrong path in search of the American dream. It starts out with our two ''righteous'' heroes scoring some big cash by smuggling drugs out of Mexico. Their dream is to go to Mardi Gras for a big party and then ''retire'' in Florida with their ill-gotten money.

In spite of their crime, they are portrayed as innocent and gentle young men in search of personal freedom. In the course of their journey, they experience several different lifestyles, none of which truly satisfies them. They spend time at a hippie commune; which they find to be full of weird people who, instead of being truly free, are struggling for their very survival.

They go on an lsd-enhanced romp with some prostitutes in a New Orleans cemetery, which turns out to be a real downer for them. They get exposed to verbal abuse and even violence by the rednecks in several towns along the way. They connect with a drunk, but very insightful, lawyer who is unsure of his own place in the world. When it seems that he will start making a difference in the lives of our heroes, he is brutally beaten to death by some rednecks from the town they had all stopped in earlier that day.

The only positive experience they have is when they stop to fix a flat tire at the farm of a God-fearing man and his family in the rural southwest. While sharing a meal with them, Peter Fonda's character compliments the man about how he has his life all together, even though they are generations apart in lifestyle. So why are our heroes going through all of this? They are searching for their own version of the American Dream. Although they may be motorcycle riding hippies of the counterculture of the 1960's, their goal was to make some quick money so that they could retire from the worries of life.

It is very symbolic that they kept their drug-earned money hidded in one bike's gasoline tank that is painted with an American flag. Rather than conforming to the world of the time by getting haircuts and finding jobs, they pursue their dream by getting some quick money and seeking the freedom to enjoy themselves for the rest of their lives. The dream is the same, the motives are the same, but the methods are different. At the end they realize that they are really no different from the culture they sought to escape from.

Peter Fonda's character sums it all up with the simple line, ''We blew it'' toward the end of the movie. Shortly after that is the famous scene of them getting blown away with a shotgun by some ignorant rednecks in a pickup truck on some southern backcountry road. They start their noble quest in secret with a drug deal, and their quest and very lives are ended in secret on an obscure country road. But their terrible end doesn't happen they find out that the freedom they sought wasn't at all what they expected it would be. As to the film, the acting is simple, straightforward and powerful.

The dialog is very understated, and leaves a lot to the imagination. The scenery is fantastic, and the music fits the story perfectly.

Highly Recommended