Review of On the Road (2012) by Ola G — 22 Jul 2012

"On the Road" is the movie adaptation of the novel by Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work based on the spontaneous cross-country adventures of Kerouac and his friends during the late 40s and early 50s. It is often considered a defining work of the postwar Beat Generation that was inspired by jazz, poetry, and drug experiences. The two main characters of the book are the narrator, struggling young writer Salvatore Paradise (Jack Kerouac), and his new friend Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady), much admired for his carefree attitude and sense for adventure, a free-spirited maverick eager to explore all kicks and an inspiration and catalyst for Sals travels. Following the death of his father, Sal embarks upon a journey across America with Dean, the living epitome of beat...

"On the Road" has been in the making as a movie all the way back to when Kerouac published the novel and wrote a letter to Marlon Brando, pursuing him to play Dean Moriarty on the screen. This never happend and the same goes for all the other attempts to make a movie out of this book. But, finally we have a full fledged movie version by Walter Salles. I red the novel in the early 90s and I fell into The Beat Generation universe (as many others) and became mesmerized by its characters, stories, images, novels etc. Even visited The City Light Bookstore in SF when I was there. I picked up the novel last year and red it yet again. I still like the novel and I was looking forward to see the movie version. Is it any good then? Yes, I would say so. They have cut out parts of course, but the general story is intact and I think the movie presents and captures the story in a great way. The pace, the madness, the sex, the environments, the poverty, the comradery, the dialogue, the poetry, the drugs, the jazz, the trips. I reckon Sam Riley (Sal Paradise), Garrett Hedlund (Dean Moriarty), Kristen Stewart (Marylou), Kirsten Dunst (Camille), Viggo Mortensen (Old Bull Lee), Amy Adams (Jane) and Tom Sturridge (Carlo Marx) put in fine performances. Nice to see my favourite Kristen Stewart taking yet another leap towards completely other type of characters compared to what she is known for. She also shows she will play any type of complex character no matter what, even if it means nudity on the screen. I like that. Yes, the female leads ends up in the background a bit too much, that is something that could have been worked out, because the novel has more flesh on the bones on the female characters for sure. Viggo Mortensens performance as Old Bull Lee aka William S. Burroughs is quite uncanny as well. All in all, I think this is a fine adaptation of the novel.