Directed and written by Derek Bauer, from a story by star Zac Titus, Two Yellow Lines tells the powerful story of a former Smokejumper dealing with crippling survivor’s guilt years after losing his crew to a fire. Jack Elliot (Zac Titus) ran away from his life in the aftermath of the tragedy. He left his wife and daughter, disappearing into the forest in Montana, working with a logging crew, far away from the world he’d known.
Jack’s estranged wife, Kelly (Alicia Ziegler), reaches out to him, desperate for his help as she’s been called away for a work trip and can’t pick up their daughter, Hanna (Alexis Titus), from an astronomy camp in Cody, Wyoming. She begs Jack to bring her to the airport in Jackson to catch her flight home. He reluctantly agrees, but when his truck breaks down, he has to dust off his old Harley and head out on the steel horse to meet Hanna.
“Hanna is furious and hurt that her father left…”
Hanna is more of a city girl, and she is as dismayed that he’s on the bike as she is angry and disapproving of her father. They strike out across the staggeringly beautiful landscape toward Jackson, and the two broken-hearted strangers must endure each other for the trip. They must also find a way to become father and daughter again.
The road trip at the center of Two Yellow Lines starts later than expected, and when night falls, they camp under the stars. The four-hour trip extends into an odyssey of relationship revelations and reconciliations. Hanna is furious and hurt that her father left, as they had been very close. Jack is broken nearly beyond repair, but not quite, and Hanna’s sparkling personality and the joy of being near her loosen the ice of terror and guilt encapsulating his emotions.
"…...is art, a rare accomplishment these days."
