“The only people for me are the mad ones… the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles…” Jack Kerouac’s rambling words from his novel, ‘On the Road’ have made it an American classic. It has also made it considered by many to be unfilmable. Francis Ford Coppola purchased the rights to ‘On the Road’ back in 1979. Over the years, he has had several screenwriters (including himself) attempt to adapt the meandering book to film with no luck. Finally Brazilian director Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) has made a commendable stab at it but it the film still falls short of Kerouac’s masterwork.
What is it about this novel that makes it so difficult to capture on film? Basically, the film is about nothing but also about everything. It embodies the rebellion and coming-of-age that youth experienced during the post-World War II Eisenhower era. Kerouac’s prose are not easy to translate into cinema. His prose broke all writing conventions. He typed it out on one long scroll that explains the way it meanders and explodes on the page. While Salles gives us passionate glimpses into Kerouac’s world, it never fully evokes the sex, drugs, and jazz hallucinogenic adventure of the novel.
Another reason this novel is tough to put on film is that there isn’t much of a plot. It’s a character-driven story. At the center of the story is Sal Paradise (Sam Riley) who is an aspiring writer living with his mother. The moment he meets Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund) they form an immediate bond. Writers write from life experiences and this story is a testament to it. The character of Sal is Kerouac and Dean portrays his real-life friend Neal Cassidy. Cassidy is the inspiration behind Kerouac’s novel. His free-spirited buddy captures the essence of the Beat Generation and the freedom Bohemian youth were seeking at the time.
To Salles’ credit, he assembled a talented supporting cast. The only problem with the supporting cast is that when they are on screen, they upstage the two main lead actors. It’s no secret that Dean is a lady’s man but treats the women in his life poorly. This is shown accurately through his wife Camille (Kirsten Dunst) and the nymphet Marylou (Kristen Stewart). Dean would hit the road with Sal and abandon his responsibilities at home. Dunst and Stewart give exceptional performances in their respective supporting roles. However, because they are so good, it drowns out Hedlund’s attempt to convey the true magnetism and recklessness that the real life Neal Cassidy had on women.
Other fine supporting performances are turned out by Viggo Mortensen as Beat writer William S. Burroughs, Amy Adams as Burrough’s wife, and Tom Sturridge as Allen Ginsberg. It is the acting that makes this film worth viewing. Kudos goes to Salles for depicting the female characters with strength rather than just background like in the novel. Be forewarned, there are scenes of men kissing. It is well-known that Cassidy would resort to male hustling to make money on the road during desperate times. Even though this is a decent film adaptation, it would be interesting to see what an American director could have done with the material like director Terry Gilliam or Gus Van Sant.
There is no substitute to reading the novel ‘On the Road’ to get Kerouac’s full emotional impact. However, the film version does have its moments and manages to capture some of the Beat Generation movement. ‘On the Road’ is now playing exclusively at The Flicks, downtown Boise.
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