Jack Kerouac’s iconic beatnik tale of road trips, sex, booze and living with your mum finally sees the light of the day thanks to The Motor Cycle Diaries director, Walter Salles.
It’s 1947, and Sal (Sam Riley), a chain-smoking aspiring young writer who lives at home with his mother, is looking for inspiration. When his poet friend, Carlo introduces him to Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund), Sal finds the inspiration he’s been looking for.
Encouraged by Dean’s insatiable hunger for adventure (of the sexual, musical and narcotics kind), Sal ups and leaves his relatively cosy existence and embarks on a three-year odyssey with his new pal, where the duo, accompanied by Dean’s lover Marylou (Stewart), flit back and forth across America on a voyage of self-discovery.
Another in a long list of un-filmable’ novels that have made it to the screen (Kerouac’s Beatnik brothers’ Naked Lunch and Howl included), On the Road’s stratospherically cool reputation very much precedes it. But it’s debatable whether Kerouac’s hipster trip down the highways of America really resonates with anyone these days (apart from gap year kids trekking across Thailand on daddy’s credit card perhaps).
Cynical critics certainly won’t be buying the freewheeling spirit of Salles’ fairly faithful adaptation of Kerouac’s novel, and those casual passers by looking for a road trip movie starring their favourite vampire-lover, Kristen Stewart, will be sorely disappointed.
The thing is, it’s all about structure, or the lack of. Sticking close to the relatively plot-less source novel, Salles’ On the Road is little more than a string of random occurrences. We watch Sal’s admiration/fascination/infatuation of Dean blossom and wane with no real narrative drive, and so, like the book, the film just kind of drifts along for a couple of hours until an abrupt coda brings things to a close.
However, with an exceptional cast, Salles still manages to craft an entertaining romp through a more romantic time.
While Riley provides an endearing and brooding Kerouac, it’s really Hedlund who hits it home with an outstanding performance. Infectiously enthused and wired, Hedlund’s memorable Moriarty provides the heart and guts to Salles’ biopic and manages to unleash the true beatnik spirit contained within Kerouac’s pages.
Despite his flaws, you’ll be glad you knew Dean Moriarty.
Overall Verdict: Salles’ freewheeling romp through beatnik America captures the spirit of Kerouac’s novel thanks to some terrific performances.
Reviewer: Lee Griffiths