Jack Kerouac’s original
novel/biography On the Road helped speak to and define a generation.
Unfortunately, Walter Salles film version can’t be expected to do the same.
Set in the late 1940’s and early
1950’s, On the Road follows the cross-country adventures of Sal Paradise (Sam
Riley) and the encounters with friends and strangers along the way that help
shape him as a writer and as a human being. One of the friends who travels
often with him is Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund), who seems to live without rules
or morals. Though there are other members in their Beatnik group, the movie
focuses mainly of the friendship between these two men.
It’s hard to describe the plot of
the movie when there really isn’t one. Much of the film is little vignettes and
glimpses into some of the adventures Sal has on the road, but there is no
constructed narrative, no beginning, middle, end, and no true climax or
satisfying ending.
Part of the publicity for the film
included highlighting all the big-name actors and actresses who were in the
film, but many audience members were disappointed these roles consisted of only
a few lines and little action. Viggo Mortensen is on one of the main posters
for the film, but has a very minor part in the film. Other actors, like Amy
Adams and Steve Buscemi, also have small, almost insignificant parts. However,
Kristen Stewart’s, who plays Mary Lou, Dean’s first wife and lover, part in the
film was written to make her a more major character than she was the original
book. Perhaps this is based on the marketability and current attraction of
Stewart (trying to reel in Twilight fans, perhaps?), but her character seemed
dry and boring and did little to enhance the film.
The two main, relatively unknown
actors – Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley – carried the majority of the film and
their performances were remarked on and complemented for days after the film
premiered. Many of the larger female roles, however, were criticized by the
press and audiences. Kristen Stewart plays a vulgar and trashier version of the
same expressionless character she plays in almost every movie, and Kirsten
Dunst (who plays Dean’s second wife Camille) comes across as whiny and bitter.
This can be partially blamed on the screenwriter Jose Rivera, who tried to
rewrite the women’s parts in the movie, but the casting choices also felt
unnatural.
Terrence Howard has a small part in
the film as a jazz saxophonist whom Sal and Dean listen to in a small,
primarily African-American club. Though he has few lines and short scenes,
Howard’s small character stands out because of the inspiration he incites in
Sal. Sal and Dean often find a comfortable place among people on the edge of
society and spend much of their time in jazz clubs. Sal finds other fringe
groups during his travels, such as Mexican cotton pickers and Mid-Western
farmers, and tries to find his place among them despite his apparent New Yorker
demeanor and attitude.
The original book explores more of
Sal’s independence as he travels across the country and as he tries his hand at
many different jobs, but the film tries to focus more on the relationship
between Sal and Dean. Many scenes show Sal’s frustration and disbelief at some
of Dean’s actions, such as his sleeping with the driver (Steve Buscemi) for a
couple dollars or his inability to commit to either marriage or his kids. This
tension builds up and seems to escalate in Mexico, where Sal gets very sick and
Dean leaves him behind, without a car, to return home. Many audiences,
including myself, expected a confrontation between the two men or at least a
reality check for Dean, who has hurt so many other people in his impulsive
actions, but Sal quietly returns home and just doesn’t see Dean for a while.
The ending, it seems, tries to give
the audience some closure with the relationship between the two men – Sal, on
the way to a concert, runs into a ragged Dean on the snowy sidewalk. Dean asks
him to help him out and to come along with him on another adventure, but Sal
says he can’t anymore (which is the first time he’s ever really turned Dean
down). As Sal gets into the limo with a shivering Dean watching, the audience
is given the idea that this friendships has been fractured and perhaps Sal has
decided to mature beyond Dean’s destructive and childish impulses, but I felt
like the movie ducked out of a true ending or a true character arc for Sal. The
book has more definite closure between the two as Sal finally decides to settle
down with a girl and Dean continues to bounce from wife to wife, lover to
lover. In that, there is a clearer break in the friendship – Sal chooses to
mature and commit, while fondly remembering his adventures on the road, and
fully separates from Dean.
Overall, the film does a decent job
of capturing much of the emotion and excitement of the adventures between Dean
and Sal on the road, but fails to include the important character transitions
and growth (or lack of growth on Dean’s part) that make the evolution and
conclusion of the friendship more understandable and complete.
Directed by Walter Salles
Written by Jack Kerouac (book) and Jose Rivera (screenplay)
Produced by Patrick Batteux, Francis Ford Coppola, Jerry
Leider, Peter Cavaney
WITH Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Tom
Sturridge, Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Elizabeth Moss, Terrence
Howard
Running time – 137 mins
