Review of Kill Your Darlings (2013) by Kim J — 13 Oct 2013

I've often found it possible to admire a film more than enjoy it. KILL YOUR DARLINGS is one such example. Based on the little-known true accountings of the early years for the Beat Generation poets and how one young man served as its muse amidst a startling murder story.

Daniel Radcliffe plays the college-aged Allen Ginsberg, who would go on to become one of the leading voices of his generation, especially with his work, "Howl". Upon entering Columbia University, he meets Lucien Carr (wonderfully played by Dane DeHaan, who was so startling in CHRONICLE and is catching fire in Hollywood). Lucien is just the jolt of anti-establishment, non-conformist energy Ginsberg responds to, both intellectually and sexually.

Carr, however, is enmeshed in a relationship with an older man (Michael C. Hall plays David Kammerer with great hurt and anguish). It's this difficult, strained partnership which helped bring together Ginsberg with Jack Kerouac (vibrant work by Jack Huston) and William S. Burroughs (Ben Foster, disappearing into his role).

We've all seen the mixed-up love triangle countless times in cinema, but because it's attached to people with such loaded histories, it's somewhat refreshing here. Director John Krokidas and co-writer Austin Bunn (friends since college) were smart to give the film an anachronistic, 80's punk tone, starting with the bold opening credits and continuing with out-of-time music choices. Because the film centers on how people can project magnanimous qualities on people who may not live up to them, there's a swoony quality to the storytelling, much like a tween girl reacts to Justin Bieber. The performances are all dedicated and intense, with Radcliffe completely immersing himself and showing us an early, innocent,impressionable side to the famous poet. Jennifer Jason Leigh and David Cross do well with their parts as Ginsberg's parents, one battling mental illness and the other quietly supportive of his son's artistic aspirations.

Cinematographer Reed Morano, who brilliantly shot FROZEN RIVER, does great work here, jumping from film noir tropes to a handheld style to mirror the syncopated rhythms of beat poetry. The recent ON THE ROAD tried too hard to emulate that style and came across as a long slog of a dirge. Because KILL YOUR DARLINGS has the benefit of an unknown psychodrama, the characters' reactions to it and how it inspires them, brings the audience much closer to them than the prior film.

All of this sounds great, no? It is, I guess, but the film as a whole is just so depressing, that I can't say I left feeling anything but great sadness. This is dark stuff, beautifully made and it's definitely not fun. Although its main character is gay, it's hardly a gay movie. KILL YOUR DARLINGS plays out more like a hero origins story for brainiacs.