User reviews

A quirky (and hard to find) comedy who's script seems to be right out of a Dave ("Six Days on the Road") Dudley's truckers' song. Filmed in the unadorned, late-'60s/early-'70s low-budget, realist style (like 'Easy Rider', 'Two Lane Blacktop' or 'Five Easy Pieces'), this little cult movie is a strange pop-art odyssey through roadside America circa-1971. It is the story of an oddball trucker's last ride as told through Cooper (Alan Arkin) and his new but stolen Peterbilt 359 big-rig. The plot (?) is a lean one. The story unfolds to us by our observing the conversations and adventures of Cooper and his unexpected hitchhiker (Paul Benedict). Together they attempt to earn some cash by hustling up some short-haul jobs while dodging the authorities. Arkin performs some eccentric scenes and delivers some quotable lines. Is Cooper fresh out of the nut-house or is he just a sad little character trying to give his dream one last try? Music is by Dave Dudley. Cameos abound with actors from the past (Bruce Bennett, George Raft, Ida Lupino) and the future (Loretta Swit, Charles Durning, Hector Elizondo, Richard Kiel). Written by Terrence Malick. This film will not impress everyone. I would recommend it to anyone who considers himself an "eng-ine man" AND is into small, quirky cult films.

As far as I can tell, this film is auteur Terrence Malick's little joke on Hollywood. Malick fans won't find any of Malick's signature directing style--he didn't direct it, and there is no style to speak of in the direction by Vernon Zimmerman. But the Malick script is full of quirky, goofy witticisms and scenes that are more smirk than laugh producing. I picture Malick musing to himself as he typed the final draft: "I wonder if someone will film this part" and then deciding, "Yes. This is America. Someone will."

Alan Arkin's character, Cooper, drives a yellow Peterbilt down America's highways and byways, tells us he's an "engine man," tries to hustle a load, finds humor where he can in a frankly eighth-grade-boy way: after throwing, one-by-one, a case of full Pepsi bottles at signs as he's driving, he turns to his hitchhiker passenger (the lantern-jawed Mr. Bentley from *The Jeffersons*!) and asks "Wasn't that fun? I had fun. That was my idea of a good time" (dialogue approximate). In another memorable scene Cooper sticks it to the trucker's nemesis--cops--in a way that reminds me of Kit Carruther's passive aggression in Malick's directorial debut, *Badlands* (1972) when he throws a set of the boss's keys into a barrel of oil after being told he's fired.

Interestingly, Arkin's character never talks on the CB, which is the first thing you'd expect a trucker to do in a trucker movie. Just shows how Malick is a great left turner.

If Arkin is not doing an impression of Terrence Malick's voice and accent in this film, I'll eat my hat. Arkin's "Texan meets Kermit the Frog" inflection (the way one interviewer described an imitator of Malick's voice) makes me wonder if Arkin met with Malick before filming began and picked up his vocal mannerisms. Hearing so many gregarious lines come out of Arkin's mouth is an eye-opener for Malick fans--I was thinking to myself as I watched and listened "I wonder what happened to Malick after this script to make him decide to be terse?"

Since there's no plot to speak of, the trucker-talk flavor of the film becomes its reason for being. By the end, I realized Malick simply strings together all the witty-to-a-redneck trucker talk he's heard, creates a sometimes realistic, sometimes surrealistic atmosphere around the world of trucking, and asks the audience, in a pugnaciously droll way, to take it or leave it.

Item of interest: the title *Deadhead Miles*, which I originally thought referred to a slacker named Miles, actually refers to the trucker's term for driving a semi with no load in the trailer. Ironically, Arkin's character carries a "load" in the trailer during the entire film. You'll understand why I put that word in quotes if you see the film.

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.

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.

This movie begins with three men hijacking a semi-truck and then taking it to a chop shop where it is repainted and subsequently driven off. It's then that one of the thieves named "Cooper" (Alan Arkin) double-crosses his colleagues and sets off in the truck on his own. Along the way he picks up a hitchhiker (played by Paul Benedict) and together they head on down the highway stealing what they can and looking for odd jobs hauling cargo here and there. However, it soon becomes obvious that Cooper has no respect for convention and this leads the two of them into one strange event after the other with no logical objective in sight. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that for a "Trucker Movie" this film turned out to be a rather bizarre mess which was barely salvaged by the acting of Alan Arkin. That said, although I don't consider this to be a particularly good movie by any means, I suppose it's worth a look for those viewers who might be interested in a film of this type and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

As if this film wasn't already awful on so many levels Alan Arkin's 'Southern Drawl' accent attempt added another level all on it's own. Maybe he is supposed to be an anti-hero of sorts? but anti-heroes above all others should have charm and charisma to help their misguided causes, in this case his selfish attitude unlikable demeanor and complete lack of humor and any charm make this film an agony to watch. the best parts of the movie are when he doesn't speak. This lists as the worst screen accent since Al Pacinos Hong Kong Phooey impression in 'Scent of a Woman'.

Insecure types will insist this film is Arty or cult. Don't be bullied into agreeing with them under the threat of 'Oh I see you just don't get it', there's nothing to get, it's a vacant dreary movie, one of those movies where the money should have been spent anything else even on 50 million Bazooka Joe chewing gums.

There is one character (and I wont spoil it) who helps Arkin during a truck break down, he is a very interesting character. Shame the movie wasn't based on him instead.......or even on Bazooka Joe for that matter......now that would be a movie. I can just hear voice over man 'he's a man with a bazooka'

Tain fower gud buddies a huk huk huk

...also I hate it when people give ten stars with the explanation 'it's so bad it's great' or 'fantastic over acting' how can over acting be good, people should have to pass exams to understand the basics of this site, mainly the basics are if it smells like a turd and looks like a turd then it doesn't get many stars.

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.

Only Alan Arkin's biggest fans will appreciate Deadhead Miles which got limited if any release at the time it came out. Arkin gives an over the top performance, but it was too much and the film and he never captured my interest.

The title is not a character name, but an expression for folks driving big rigs that are devoid of cargo. One does not make any money that way and one eats a lot of gas. Arkin drives big rigs and picks up a hitchhiker played by Paul Benedict who had a much better acting gig as The Jeffersons neighbor Mr. Bentley.

Certain films don't have real plots, the best example I know is The Sundowners where Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr wander aimlessly over Australia, but their characters were so engaging I loved the film. I never got engaged by Arkin and Benedict.

A very aimless and meandering story, no wonder it got limited showings.

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.

I caught this movie on A&E over ten years ago between classes while in college. I'd seen Catch-22, so I knew Alan Arkin and liked his work.

It's hard to describe this movie beyond a trucker movie. Very seriously, it's like an episode of Seinfeld... a lot of random stuff happens, most of it disconnected, a lot of it odd, but the vast majority is really funny once you sink into it. Honestly, I forget a very large portion of the movie, but the impression of how interesting it was has stuck with me for over a decade... that has to say something.

Arkin is perfect in it as a pill-popping, cantankerous driver trying to stay awake while driving a load cross country. Paul Benedict (Bentley from the Jeffersons) plays a tramp. Looking over the cast, Richard Kiel (Jaws from the Bond films), Loretta Swit (M*A*S*H), John Milius (writer of Apocalypse Now, etc), Hector Elizondo, Charles Durning... this had a great cast of character actors. I would love to see this film again, but I seriously doubt it will ever get a DVD release unless someone famous sponsors it like Tarantino has the martial arts films released under his Rolling Thunder company.

A truly great "road picture". Alan Arkin is absolutely fantastic as the nutty runaway truck driver. I've tried various sources to try to buy this movie, but it doesn'y seem to be available anywhere. I taped it off A & E several years ago, and it has become one of my all-time favorites. The music of Dave Dudley really completes the weird "mood" of this film.

This is an odd movie to say the least. There is not much of a plot but, I really like this movie. I think Alan Arkin is a very good actor even if his character does not have much depth except for being a little crazy. They got most of the technical parts right except for a couple. The main thing that caught my eye is that in the beginning of the movie it starts by the bad guys hi-jacking a older mi-60's needle nose Peterbilt that has little chrome or polished aluminum. When the hi-jackers repaint the truck it rolls out of the shop a brand new '72 Peterbilt. I think the truck is the star of the movie. The reason I like it so much is that it is very similar to a truck my grandpa owned from 1070-78. This movie also shows some beautiful country throughout it and it includes many songs by Dave Dudley. Unless you love trucks as much as I do you probably won't care much for this movie. I wish I had a home video of it but I don't think it was ever released.

Distinct lack of plot to this movie.

Its the story of a truck driver who is the worst imaginable and his sane passenger and a truck. There is not much else in there. Did I mention the truck? A lovely Peterbilt and reefer trailer combination with lots of that grunty Cummins Diesel sound.

The real star of this movie is Alan Arkin. He gives a hilarious performance in one of my favourite B movies ever.

I have never seen the end of this movie. I taped it off TV several years ago and about 4/5 in to the movie there was a power cut so I never got the end of the movie. Can't buy it anywhere and never know when its going to be shown on TV again.

Cameo appearances by Ida Lupino and George Raft who had appeared in a trucking movie called They Drive by Night also starring a young H Bogart.

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 features,of course, one of the most gifted and underrated actors, Alan Arkin. However, the film, called a comedy, is merely a sad commentary on one rather bizarre trucker's life and experiences that no real trucker would endure. Technically flawed, the film when it was first released to theatres, went about as far as a Peterbilt tractor in reverse but with the engine stalled. After its first attempt at theatrical release, it gained a new soundtrack which still did not provide enough ooomph to move a rather incredulous, vapid plot even in first gear. Without revealing the ending, as someone who has spent a lifetime in the trucking industry, all I can say is no trucker in his right mind would have done what Alan Arkin did, although his characterization might justify his bizarre actions. On a scale of one to ten, as a trucker-oriented movie, I give it a minus nine, and that's being generous.