Yes, Jack Kerouac's ground-breaking novel is back On the Road again. This time we have an R-rated, two-hour (mumbled) talkathon. We see:
- Sam Riley ("Brighton Rock") as Sal Paradise/Jack Kerouac, a vaguely disengaged author in search of a story; he documents every move, every misdeed and every meal, but the sum total of all that labor is stultifyingly boring. (Yeah, that's probably not a word, but I don't care.)
- Garrett Hedlund ("Country Strong") as Dean Moriarty/Neal Cassady is a good-looking omni-sexual legend who isn't above doing a little hooking to earn a ride.
- Kristen Stewart ("Snow White and the Huntsman") as Mary- lou/LuAnne Henderson personifies one of the many women who are used and discarded like soiled tissues.
- Amy Adams ("Trouble With the Curve") as Jane/Joan Vollmer lives at one of the many stops along the way. At least she can give marital tips to an unhappy young bride.
- Tom Surridge ("Waiting For Forever") as Carlo Marx/Allen Ginsberg is a Beat poet and iconoclast, ultimately revered as the Grand Old Man of his generation. I'm afraid I was always too grounded to relate to his toked-up brand of philosophy.
- Kirsten Dunst ("Melancholia") as Camille/Caroline Cassady who at least has sense enough to kick the guy out.
- Viggo Mortensen ("A Dangerous Method") as Old Bull Lee/William S. Burroughs. Mortensen threatens to replace Sam Shepard as Hollywood's favorite grizzled curmudgeon.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
In case you want to see a preview:
* * * * * * * * * * * *