Big Sur

Jack Kerouac (Jean-Marc Barr) is almost 40, bored and jaded after his tremendously successful novel 'On the Road'. He leaves the overwhelming media attention for the isolation of Big Sur, California to regain his sanity. There is no booze, no drugs, and generally no people. After only 3 weeks, his boredom drove him mad and hitchhiking out of the cabin back to San Francisco where he spends his time drinking with friends. His friend Neal Cassady (Josh Lucas) has his wife Carolyn (Radha Mitchell), 3 kids, and mistress Billie (Kate Bosworth). When he goes back to the cabin, he is surrounded by a group of friends. After he goes back with Neal, he develops a relationship with Billie.

It is cinematic representation of the literary aimless midlife crisis of Big Sur. It has the overwhelming and constant stream of consciousness Kerouac narration. There is no story that is anything close to a traditional movie. This imparts more of a mood rather than an actual story. Jean-Marc Barr is a relative unknown away from Europe. It allows the Kerouac character to exist in a tired and empty state. If a bigger star played him, I think the audience could slip into wondering about the acting prowess of the star. Kerouac almost exists as a hole exerting no force on this movie, but Barr can turn it on if it's required.

After watching the "On The Road" movie and reading negative reviews about "Kill Your Darlings" I wasn't expecting much from "Big Sur". But I was very pleasantly surprised with how well it was done. The majority of the dialogue is voice-over in Kerouac's own words and other than a couple of minor details the movie stays true to the book. Jean-Marc Barr gave an excellent portrayal of Kerouac, even though he doesn't sound like him very much or even attempt to replicate Kerouac's accent. Patrick Fischler was great as Lew Welch and Henry Thomas offers up some of his best work as Philip Whalen. My only complaint is in the portrayal of the sub-story regarding the goldfish in Billie's apartment. Without giving anything away I'll just say that I didn't think it was handled very well.

Other than that the cinematography is absolutely beautiful and the soundtrack set the mood perfectly throughout the movie. I'm really glad that someone finally made a Kerouac movie the right way, by respectfully staying true to the book. This is easily my favorite movie of 2013 so far.

If you're fascinated with Kerouac, the Beats, or the era, you may enjoy this picture. Everything is solid, but we're not given music as viewers to digest. Stuff happens, and more stuff happens. Is there a conclusion? Maybe there doesn't need to be.

I think it is fair to warn people that the telling factor on whether you will enjoy this film or not is your relationship with Jack Kerouac and the writers of that time and crowd. The more you enjoy Kerouac's writing the more you will enjoy this film which has remained true to him and his words. If you don't enjoy Kerouac or are not familiar with him, then you might be tempted to walk out, or pass out with boredom.

M. David Mullen's cinematography is spectacular and the Big Sur coast is stunning even on a bad day. But for the average viewer, this is a film with not much of a story or character development and an often irritating narration (Kerouac's words) that, depending on your love of Kerouac will come across as either evidence of his genius or delusional in it's presumption of profundity.

Big Sur is the end of Kerouac's literary journey which he called the Legend of the Duluoz. Sure he wrote more novels but he never chronicled his life beyond Big Sur and if you read the book, you'd understand why. Kerouac, a free spirit by the time of this book, was around 36 and popular. He lost the freedom he celebrated in his work to celebrity. He found he had less and less in common with his friends and the alcohol started to flow and really take it's toll on his body. I read Big Sur when I was 16. I was struck by how his disillusionment grew when he was surrounded by people and how freeing and peaceful it was when he was alone in the cabin on Big Sur. Kerouac wrote in a descriptive whirlwind when the nightmarish DTs struck. It was night and day how life was for him and he crafted a brilliant literary work chronicling this. I am always disappointed when I see someone else's vision of how they interpret books I like. Maybe I have a vivid imagination and am bringing these images to life in my mind better than what is shown to me on a screen. Never liked any screen adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Not many directors as good at their craft as F Scott Fitzgerald was at his.

Maybe it's not fair to complain about the attempt so much. Big Sur is a difficult novel to bring to life for anyone. The book is the closest Kerouac ever came to something like William Burroughs' Naked Lunch. The surreal horrific terrors he experienced from his alcoholism are descriptive and not brought to life well in this movie.

It's also a dour story and frankly, it makes for a great book but not a movie where you expect three acts. The novel itself doesn't really have that. It's just a stage in Kerouac's life. He carries on when it's over and his descent simply continues....