Wall

Charles Coleman

14May13

Acting was fine for the most part especially Hedlund and Kristen Stewart. A few nice scenes but overall a mess of a film. Way too meandering and uninterestingly made. Huge disappointment.

Bibi Lamy

13May13

très sensuel Lui, elle, les trois, bref le film

Bibi Lamy likes this

Sincerely postpositive adaptation of specific feelings in a specific historical transition: obsolescence in pursuit of the greenest adolescence:—the rage of the post-war White Male discovering his inferiority to all things. Though none of this is evident. The movie is piss.

Mário Coelho

11May13

This movie lacks soul. And heart.

chanandre likes this

Sean

23Apr13

Jack Kerouac has always been one of my favourite authors along with On The Road being one of my favourite books. I was anxious about this film, mostly because I felt the book was unfilmable. How would the passion I felt from reading the book translate to the screen? I give Walter Salles credit for giving it a try, it is beautifully filmed but no matter how beautiful it looks, it falls flat comparing it to the book. Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley are Dean and Sal, Viggo blew my mind playing Old Bull (great impression of William Burroughs). I really wanted to love this movie but it really let me down big time.

WhatsUpWill

14Apr13

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Koalacanth likes this

SALESK

1Apr13

just as insufferable as the book. manages to draw out the sexism & white male privilege inherent in the beats quite well...which i'm pretty sure was not the intention.

Neither/Nor likes this

Angela

1Apr13

I wanted to like this so much, but it was just so dull. Its beautifully shot, and not a bad movie by any means, but its just not very engaging.

Frankly, Mr. Shankly

18Mar13

A remarkable book turned into a forgettable movie.

Koalacanth and Aguaespejo like this

cinemaofdreams

18Mar13

So sad. One of my top 10 books I think some novels are impossible to transpose to the big screen without reducing them to a mere shadow or less.
Frankly, Mr. Shankly

18Mar13

I felt nothing. There's no urgency and they're all very good looking. I put no faith in this, so I'm not surprised or disappointed.

Evan Schafer

16Mar13

There were very few moments in "On the Road" that this viewer actually enjoyed. For almost 2 1/2 hours, there was barely a coherent storyline, except for a few major plot points that pretty much suspended the rest. Time spent that could've been spent on other, better films. My only appreciation lies in the fact that the film is based on Jack Kerouac's book. Other than that, a waste of time and utterly boring.

Konrad Szlendak

9Feb13

Basically an instruction how to bury a great piece of literature in a mediocre movie...

Hazal Ilbay and 2 others like this

سورچ, Margeaux St.Croix

Alexander Robino

2Feb13

This is definitely an abridged version of the book (to bring it down to a marketable running time, i assume). Lots is certainly cut out - which makes one scratch their head when considering the drawn-out sex scenes full of Stewart’s fake moaning. But that said, this is actually a pretty decent adaption that manages to maintain the spirit of Kerouac’s novel.

msmichel

23Jan13

Long gestating adaptation of Kerouac's essential american novel truly captures the spirit it contained. The quest for the road to settle the raging spirit within looking for meaning; looking for something more; looking for something other than accepting the complacency of the so-called american dream. Salles and Rivera have brought the pages to life in a way that doesn't feel the need to tell a convential story.

Nebojsa and 2 others like this

Gizem Bayıksel, HKFanatic

msmichel

23Jan13

Hedlund and Riley perfectly capture Dean and Sal with strong supporting turns all around. The hand held cinematography by Gautier captures the wanderlust and the majesty of the road. Time period well captured though interesting that Alberta and Montreal had to double for post war America. After the many years of false starts and failed financing its such a pleasure to see the book so well adapted.

Sinziana Medvetchi

20Jan13

Edit: the long road. Later edit: long yet engaging road. Few shortcuts to figuring yourself out, right?, although this seems to be the national pastime of the '50s.

Broos Claerhout

17Jan13

The film makes you want to travel immediately, just leave and see where you'll end up. It's a feeling that keeps hanging for a few days. I like the attraction from Sal/Jack to Dean/Neal, the romantisation (is it an english word?) of his best friend and his lifestyle and the reality behind it that makes it end the way it ends. Do watch it!

jamiek328

13Jan13

A totally acceptable representation of Kerouac's travels, but not the book itself. The film deals much more with each character than Sal Paradise (Jack Kerouac) and how he interprets and perceives each caracter. At first the movie seems like it is going to be very stereotypical and cliche, but it end ups being at the least an entertaining film from beginning to end, and at most, a moving piece of cinematic beauty.

33333

8Jan13

!!!!!!!!

Teresa Silva

5Jan13

Garrett Hedlund earns two stars. The rest is dull.

bracko

2Jan13

very satisfying adaptation of the unfilmable novel.

Jack M and Mike Thorn like this

DT

30Dec12

Certainly well put together - beautifully shot, and even Stewart radiates. I enjoyed the film’s free-spirited nature, vibrant atmosphere and period setting. Indeed: Shadows-esque.

Kevin T and Mike Thorn like this

Mike Thorn

2Jan13

I like the comparison to Shadows. Walter Salles also said he was influenced by The Exiles, which shares a lot of aesthetic similarities with Shadows.
DT

2Jan13

Hadn't heard of that, definitely interested in seeing that now. I also heard he made the cast watch Breathless, although personally it's been too long since seeing the Godard to pick up on specific traits...

Stephanie Brown

29Dec12

Surprised at how good Kristen Stewart's performance was. Entertaining, thoughtful, and well-executed. Beautifully shot as well

DT likes this

Dzimas

28Dec12

Salles captures the look but not the feel of the book. There were a few fun moments, but otherwise a sad and dreary journey into midnight.

Kevin T

24Dec12

5 stars, because I didn't expect an art film.

Gran-Hoff

21Dec12

In a totally anti-utilitarian way, the following question comes to my mind: "What's the point?". A totally utilitarian answer comes right away: "for the money". What structures this movie is the complete opposite of what the whole beatnik stuff was all about...

T. M. Dougherty likes this

Kevin T

24Dec12

All movies are made to make money, making a movie costs lots of money, energy and manpower. The objective is to get something back.
Gran-Hoff

24Dec12

I agree with "getting something back", now, concerning this "something", the matter of what it is, how much of it you plan to get, in which order you set your priorities and what is the main purpose of making any kind of "art" is a question of principles and it's way too subjective for us to try and generalize. I maintain what I said and would seriously advise you to rethink your statement.
Kevin T

24Dec12

If money isn't a priority for someone who makes art, they aren't going to have the means to make very much of it.
O Hozomeen

27Dec12

Except for um, let me think for a second, writers and painters? A writer can churn out work every second of every day till he dies and the only money it'll cost him is the money he'd make if he stopped fucking off and got a job. Film is uniquely constrained in this sense.
Kevin T

27Dec12

Good point, I recognize that I generalized there, what I really meant is; If money isn't a priority for someone who makes films, they aren't going to have the means to make very many.
Gran-Hoff

27Dec12

Repeating myself, but let's go for a last time: if you're talking about an art-driven-cinema, you need money to make a second movie, but you don't make a second movie to make money. Setting money as your priority is putting the inherencies before the purposes.
Kevin T

28Dec12

I never said money should be the SINGLE priority, I stated it should be A priority, implying that it is one amongst others. I think it's presumptuous to assume that the makers of this film placed money as their singular priority when you have no basis for that argument whatsoever, You cannot make an argument about their intentions without being presumptuous because you do not know their intentions. By the way, the word art is also far too subjective to even attempt to define.

Lorena Brandão

15Dec12

Interessante...

Jorge Mourinha

13Dec12

Road to nowhere.

Gran-Hoff

21Dec12

Which is the name of an awesome movie, in other words, the opposite of this crappy adaptation, which lives only on the hype

Matthew_Lucas

4Dec12

Walter Salles' adaptation of Jack Kerouac's quintessential chronicle of the the beatnik generation captures a palpable sense of youthful rebellion in its tale of two young men and a young woman on the road search of freedom and new experiences. The problem is that it's a bit of a mess. Kristen Stewart is a highlight, but in evoking Kerouac's rambling prose it gets lost, and the heavy handed narration doesn't work.