"On the Road" Review

On the Road, Jack Kerouac's iconic novel of youthful restlessness and rebellion in post-World War II America, is one of many books on my "need to read" list. But I have had my eye on the long gestating film adaptation since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival nearly a year ago, and have finally had the opportunity to see it. And while it's quite well done on a technical level, there's also a sense that something is missing. It's rare for literature to translate perfectly to film; the two mediums are simply too different for the same amount of depth to be present on the screen as on the page, and I found that to be the case here.

On the Road is a semi-autobiographical story of Kerouac's youthful years in the late 1940s. He gives himself the pseudonym Sal Paradise and tells of his interactions with various contemporaries, most notably Neal Cassidy, who goes by Dean Moriarty. Sal meets Dean through his friend Carlo Marx (standing in for Allen Ginsburg) and the two of them embark on a multiyear friendship of sorts that takes them back and forth across the country in search of "it," which I took to simply be some version of personal satisfaction or just their own interpretation of the "American dream." Only once is their quest for "it" mentioned, but in talking with others who have read the novel I learned that this pursuit plays a much bigger role in the book than it does in the film. As a viewer I kept this in mind over the course of the film, that Sal and Dean are in search of something even though it's barely mentioned. Without it there really isn't much of a story beyond youthful antics involving copious amounts of drugs and sex, so it's important to see the idea underneath it all even though the script (written by Jose Rivera) doesn't give it much weight.

That being said, the rebelliousness of youth does come through. A comment from Sal about Douglas MacArthur and a scene involving a corrupt police officer the most overt examples, but the themes are even more apparent considering the late 1940s setting. And given that the book was written a decade later, against the backdrop of the Cold War and the specter of McCarthyism, the spirit of rebellion against controlling authority shines through. Unfortunately though, this search for the American dream and rebellion against conservatism is about as deep as the film gets.

But while a lot of the novel's depth is lost in the script, the execution of the film is top notch. Kerouac's love of America bleeds through in almost every frame of their roadtrips, and the alternately sun-dappled and icy cold cinematography takes great advantage of the swath of American landscapes that fill the film. British actor Sam Riley plays Sal, and he looks and sounds eerily like a young Jack Nicholson. Sal is the laid back center of the film, set against Dean's wild and reckless abandon, and Riley carries the role appropriately. But his best moments probably come when he gets to narrate in Kerouac's beautiful prose. A host of actors, some famous and some less so, populate the film as the various characters Sal and Dean meet in the course of their travels. Few are on screen long enough to truly make an impression; some of the brighter spots come from Viggo Mortensen (as Old Bull Lee / William S. Burroughs), Amy Adams, and Steve Buscemi.

The best performances come fron Garrett Hedlund as Dean and, surprisingly, Kristen Stewart as his wife Marylou. This is the first time I've ever seen Stewart truly give a performance. Yes you know it's still her up on the screen, but none of the awkward nervous hair brushing or swaying that seems to define every character she's played is present here. It's a true, honest, emotional performance. And Hedlund is simply great as Moriarty. He captures the character's restless abandon perfectly, but has some wonderful standout emotional scenes as well. His performance here is proof that it doesn't take an emotional outburst or convulsive weeping to take a strong emotional toll.

"On the Road" is rated R for strong sexual content, drug use, and language.
Running time: 124 minutes
Released domestically on December 21, 2012, by IFC Films.
2.5 stars out of 4.