“On the Road” [rating: 4/5]
For anyone who has read Jack Kerouac’s quintessential Beat-generation novel “On the Road,” they understand why the book has been so popular since its first publication in 1957.
A story of the search for personal belonging and meaning, “On the Road” fiercely delves into the world of sex, drugs, and jazz, following the true story of Kerouac and his friends as they drove across the United States in 1947. So when I heard that the book I so dearly clung to during my teenage years was going to be turned into a film, I pouted for weeks.
Luckily, a combination of factors made “On the Road” one hell of a great cinematic journey.
When romantic writer Sal Paradise (Sam Riley) is introduced to the free-spirited, and often reckless, Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund) and his girlfriend Marylou (Kristen Stewart), the three begin traveling across the country together. The trio encounter a colorful group of characters and find themselves in an interesting array of situations, everything painted over by a heavy wash of nonconformity. The entire experience is all recorded in Sal’s small pocket notebook.
The movie is cinematically stunning, and not unlike a work of prose itself. A collection of Sal’s voice-over snippets aligned with short scenes of the trio experimenting with both substances, and one other, all mixed in with the slow, poetic dialogue of Jose Rivera’s (The Motorcycle Diaries) screenplay makes the film a work of art.
However, it is Hedlund’s shot at Dean that truly pulls everything together. A sociopath with respect for no one or nothing, including himself, is fascinating to watch on screen. His relationship to Sal, while honest and brotherly, is nothing more than an attempt to vicariously achieve his stability, and his marriage to Marylou is nothing short of volatile. The chemistry between Hedlund and Stewart is believable, and Stewart is completely adequate at playing the young, overly-sexualized woman desperate for freedom, though this is what defines her character completely.
The truth is that most people will probably watch the film with no knowledge of the novel’s actual story, which could confuse viewers. The film’s story is not necessarily lacking structure, but could not be told without its vivacious characters. “On the Road” is simply a film of personal journey, and whether or not its lack of true structure is bothersome to you as a viewer, one can still appreciate its thematic beauty.
I applaud Walter Salles for his brave dive into Keruoac’s maddening story. It is a truly beautiful and unique adaptation that leaves you wondering just what your own personal journey will end up like.
