I wanted to see On The Road from the moment I heard about the people involved, I'd seen a couple of Garrett Hedlund's performances and thought he was impressive, I'm a huge fan of Tom Sturridge, Kristen Stewart and Amy Adams. And even the addition of Kirsten Stewart, who I normally can't stand, was not enough to put me off.
The film was not showing at my local Cineworld so I even elected to pay £9 to see On The Road at my local independent cinema, The Duke Of Yorks. I wish I could say it was worth it.
Considering the film is essentially a 'road trip' movie, it goes nowhere. Admittedly I have not read Jack Kerouac's novel but if it's as mindless, meaningless and meandering as the movie then I don't want to read it and I have no idea why so many have, and moreover why they rave about how good it is.
The film is a series of strung together scenes of sex and drug taking with the occasional reflection on these characters lives and where they're going. The problem is that there is so little known about the characters that by the time it gets to the reflection part, you don't really care what happens to them. The actors in this film are of such a calibre that the characters could have been so much more interesting, so rich. But the actors are not given the opportunity to do anything with these characters and so we never really connect with them.
It's such a pity as a film with this many amazing people in it could and should have been one of the best films of the year but instead it's an instantly forgettable film and one which I feel robbed me of £9. Avoid. 4 out of 10. (the movie overall is a 3 but I raise it 1 point for the quality of the actors involved, it's not their fault they had nothing to do!)
Viewing Date - 21st October 2012
UK Release Date - 12th October 2012
Cast Overview:
Garrett Hedlund ~ Dean Moriarty
Sam Riley ~ Sal Paradise
Kristen Stewart ~ Marylou
Tom Sturridge ~ Carlo Marx
Kirsten Dunst ~ Camille
Amy Adams ~ Jane
Viggo Mortensen ~ Old Bull Lee
Steve Buscemi ~ Tall Thin Salesman
Danny Morgan ~ Ed Dunkel
Elizabeth Moss ~ Galatea Dunkel
Terrence Howard ~ Walter
Director ~ Walter Salles
Writer(s) ~ Jack Kerouac (Book) and Jose Rivera (Screenplay)
Ah, the beat generation. Don't you just love their "life is so unfair being a middle-class suffering twenty-something who can afford to drive around without a job and complain about how bad my life is?" Er ...No.
ReplyDeleteYeah, boo hoo! Pft!
DeleteIt's not that it is not worth £9, it is not even worth the price of the bus ticket to get there. Though on the plus side, I did have a brilliant choice of food in my bag ...
ReplyDeleteThat you did. It was a good job or that entire trip would have been a waste! :0)
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