Conspirator
- Brian
- I went out there in search of experience To taste and to touch and to feel as much As a man can before he repents.
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On Seeing On the Road
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There is too much in the novel to fit into a movie, and this is always the case with an adaptation. Determining what to adapt is no doubt tricky. The script cared more about getting in the big names rather than developing a consistent story. Therefore, Carlo Marx (aka, Allen Ginsberg) plays a prominent early part, but his role seems disjointed and forced. Similarly, the Dunkel subplot only appears in the film in order to make a spot for Old Bull Lee (aka, William Burroughs--played by the always impeccable Viggo Mortensen). The Dunkels could have been left out of the film altogether (as well as Old Bull Lee) and the plot would have been stronger, freeing up space to further develop the actual road trips, which are a rather minuscule part of the movie. In the novel, Kerouac takes great care to give the initial segment's of Sal's life on the road the attention it deserves. Sal's trip on the back of a flatbed pickup with Montana Slim and Mississippi Gene is one of the most exciting moments of the novel and the wildness--the freedom and the possibilities--of the road is captured and presented in contrast to the tight systems of conformity present in civilization. It would have been better to omit the Dunkels and Old Bull Lee (even though it means parting with Viggo) and expand the road trip sections because in the film they come off as schoolboy hi-jinks rather than pursuits of meaning, fulfillment, and enlightenment.
Garret Hudland and Viggo Mortensen are very good as Dean Moriarty and Old Bull Lee (respectively), but the script doesn't allow Hudland to really shine the way in which he should. It's just too disjointed and intent on "getting everything in" rather than building a single, good story. Mortensen's appearance (as well as that of Amy Adams) is a mere cameo, though it does provide a much needed punch after watching the headed-in-the-right-direction-but-not-quite-there acting of Sam Riley (as Sal Paradise) and Kristen Stewart (as Mary Lou), not to mention the bland, forced performances of Kirsten Stewart and Tom Sturridge.
All of this serves to suck the life out of the narrative. There's no vibrancy to this film, no sense of search, no sense of urgency. Nothing works. Good story is left out in order to force in scenes. The film is just a series of scenes, scenes, scenes. And, none of these scenes are burning like yellow Roman candles in the night. The madness is missing; these characters are just silly and entitled--none of them are that interesting (except for Viggo, of course).
The one redeeming factor of this movie is the cinematography. Walter Salles captures the beauty of North America as well as he does the beauty of South America in The Motorcycle Diaries (a splendid film, by the way). Omit the sound and the On the Road would make a great live desktop, but sadly that's the only reason I'd ever want to see it again. Maybe someone will try this movie in the future and learn from the mistakes of this adaptation. But, then again, it may be that On the Road just can't exist as a film.
The trailer was awesome, though. Definitely a great trailer.
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