Review of On the Road (2012) by Manny C — 07 Apr 2013

The film adaptation of Kerouac's On The Road could use a shot of Spring Breakers intensity. That's how stiff and constricted this big screen take on the 1957 Beat Generation landmark novel is. The film looks amazing, but feels less so. Kerouac, here represented by the character Sal Paradise, played by Sam Riley (Control) takes to the road with his buddies in search of great areas of American non-conformity involving drugs, jazz and poetry.

His adventures drift around Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund), a restless vagabond based on writer Neal Cassaday. Dean, in bed with his wife Marylou (a fantastic Kristen Stewart), casually invites Sal to join them. All the gorgeous sights of San Francisco, New Orleans and Mexico can't top those escapades, especially when Dean beds Camille (Kirsten Dunst, excellent) and invites the attentions of a poet (Tom Sturridge) basedon Allen Ginsberg.

It's a lot to take in, but On The Road was hardly a dull read, it was a milestone novel bashed out in a marathon writing session on a single scroll (that's now owned by Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, no joke). But the script from Jose Rivera strains to cram in too much in too little time. Director Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) utilizes a hand-held camera to suggest the feeling of criss-crossed exhilaration, but it all falls mostly flat. The cast does their best to make up for the lack of substance, but can only do so much. Hedlund and Riley are good, but Stewart steals the show. It's a kick to watch her free of Twilight bile. Itr's her best screen performance yet, just watch her in the front seat of a car with Sal and Dean, all naked, jerking them both off. She runs away with a movie not worth stealing.