Heart Beat

Not exactly a biopic but rather a potpourri loosely based on Carloyn Cassady's memoires and Jack Kerouac's autobiographical novel 'OnThe Road'. A tad too neat and tidy for me, and I did miss many of the very specific jazzy references and descriptions in the book as soundtrack. And that's not pardonable! On the other hand, they added some soundtrack which was not fitting at all. Shame. Usually a great actress, Sissy Spacek was less impressive as a figure of the so called 'Beat Generation'. She seemed to me too bourgeois and not quite in character. I haven't read Caroly's memories though and in Jack's book she's one of the many important but rather peripheral characters.

However! having had cast Nick Nolte as Neal Cassady and John Heard as Jack Kerouac was a bullseye in my opinion. I imagined the two lads exactly this way whilst reading the book. Great interpretations and chemistry. Gorgeous cinematography by Laszlo Kovacs, but maybe I'm being too patriotic :-) Despite all my criticism, I definitely recommend it to those who read the book, you'll pick up the references with a smile.

This was a find with On-Demand. The price was right (free)and I could watch it without leaving the house, so nothing was lost except time. That being said, this is probably a film that fans of Nick Nolte, Ray Sharkey and Beat Generation culture would enjoy. Nolte is in the waning days of his "pretty boy" phase, but he gives a gritty performance. Ray Sharkey's maniacal turn as Ira makes you wonder "what-if" all the more. The Beat Generation backdrop seems a little too clean at times, but it gets a fair shot. However, Sissy Spacek is handed a character that she can't do anything with. This comes from the overly broad brush strokes that the filmmaker uses, which leaves little room for Spacek to work.

All in all, not a bad film; just not one for the ages.

Writer director John Byrun's Hollywood whitewash of the Beat Generation completely ignores its most conspicuous trait, settling for routine conformity over the uninhibited freedom, which gave the movement its energy and impetus. Instead of following their example the film tiptoes respectfully through the rebellious antics of Jack Keruac and Neil Cassidy, in tepid portraits calculated not to offend anyone, least of all Carolyn Cassidy, whose memoirs inspired the film and whose blessing the makers obviously courted. Nick Nolte (as Cassidy) fares best, but only for lack of adequate comparison; John Heard's portrayal of Keruac makes the over-indulgent writer seem a confused but nice young man unable to measure up to his own legend, and Byrun apparently never bothered to give Sissy Spacek a character at all. Each is simply a two-dimensional reduction of a historical archetype, and none is able to save the film from cardiac arrest.

Fictionalized account of the friendship between writers Nick Cassady and Jack Kerouac, members of the so-called Beat Generation of the late 1950s. Writer-director John Byrum takes a sketchy, connect-the-dots approach to these famous people, and his opaque screenplay, adapted from Carolyn Cassady's memoirs, leaves the actors (Nick Nolte as Cassady, John Heard as Kerouac, Sissy Spacek as Carolyn) often looking as if they haven't been clued-in. There are moments when the cast and the well-realized surroundings warrant far more interest than the story or the dialogue, and that's a weak obstacle in a film about writers. The film is also extremely somber, with only bits and pieces of quirky humor (thanks to a supporting turn by Ray Sharkey) to elevate the depressive air of self-conceit. Visually impressive production, solid work from the men, but Spacek's role is underwritten. ** from ****

Potentially fascinating topic, three of my all time favorite actors at their hottest, and complete bore. John Heard, who plays Jack Kerouac, tells a story about how amazing a young Jessica Lange was when she auditioned for this and Bynum dismissed her as 'just a model'. He brings the fine judgment to every project(see or rather, don't see 'Inserts' or 'The Razor's Edge'). I will give the most some credit for giving the Carolyn Cassidy unexpected agency in what easily could be a highbrow bromance. Sissy Spacek is very good and would win her Oscar for 'Coal Miner's Daughter' which came out the same year. See 'Chilly Scenes of Winter' or 'Cutter's Way' to see how wasted Heard is in this.