Review of Howl (2010) by Steve S — 02 Dec 2014

3/5 Stars-The material is interesting, but presented in a dry way with a lot of talking, especially in the courtroom scenes depicting the obscenity trial surrounding "Howl". Jon Hamm and David Strathairn get dramatic monologues of closing arguments that seem like they were written into their contract agreements. Franco does a good job as Ginsberg, but lets his own personal goofiness slip through from time to time. I liked his performance in "Milk" a tad bit more than this one.

The film is very well made, with great period set pieces and bursts of animation set to Ginsberg's readings, that made it easier to follow, believe it or not. Fans of Kerouac, Ginsberg and other "beat" writers of the era will thoroughly enjoy this, but for the casual viewer, it may come across as dry and less dramatic. But it's a great look at the era. At times it felt like an early Cassavetes film, like "Shadows".