Beat

2000
R
1h 33m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Two murders that shaped the lives of several college students who went on to become some of the most influential writers of the Beat Generation.Two murders that shaped the lives of several college students who went on to become some of the most influential writers of the Beat Generation.Two murders that shaped the lives of several college students who went on to become some of the most influential writers of the Beat Generation.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.4/10

1.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination total

User reviews31

Featured review

sigh

Beat was quite possibly one of the most disappointing ventures I've yet encountered. Seeing it on the shelves at Hollywood Video, I promptly put down my other options and grabbed it up. It's rare that a movie about the Beats comes around, and this dharma bum wasn't about to pass it up...much to my chagrin. The movie first and foremost is just downright boring. (I guess I should take this opportunity now to say that I'm a huge student of the Beat Generation. Burroughs and Kerouac are two of my biggest influences in both poetry and prose.) The acting was lackluster with the exceptions of Kilmer's Burroughs and Livingston's Ginsberg (both were bloody perfect). I can't help but feel that Beat was beaten to death in the editing room. There was potential for a great script here, but it was the creative fecal matter of Gary "The Trouble with Dick" Walkow.

One final complaint that has nothing really to do seriously with the film: Would it be too much to ask for Gary to squeeze in more than 0.1 seconds of Jack?

j4bb3rw0cky
May 13, 2003
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Trailer 1:42

Beat

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Storyline

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Trivia
The trailer shows scenes not in the final version of the film. These seem to include scenes with Jack Kerouac and others from New York appearing only in brief flashback in the film. As well, a scene of William Burroughs reading a newspaper story to Joan about a fire at a zoo. The phrase "and the hippos were boiled in their tanks" which comes from this story was the title of the unpublished novel by Kerouac and Burroughs about the David Kammerer murder.

Quotes
Joan Vollmer: So, do they have ruins down in Guatemala?
William S. Burroughs: It's all ruins. Or it all will be, given enough time.
Joan Vollmer: Ah, just like people.
William S. Burroughs: Yes. But people decay more promptly than Mayan temples.