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Dec 21, 2012 By Chris Tinkham Web Exclusive

One of the biggest challenges facing director Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) in making a screen version of Jack Kerouac’s landmark 1957 novel, On the Road, was to give the film a cinematic voice. Not only did Kerouac’s book give voice to a “beat” counterculture that bucked against post-WWII conformism, but it was written in a restless style that was pioneering for its time. Kerouac’s first draft of On the Road, which he based on his late 1940s adventures with friend Neal Cassady (named Dean Moriarty in the book), was typed on a 120-foot scroll made from paper sheets that were taped together. Inspired by the spontaneity of jazz music, Kerouac wrote the manuscript quickly, with disregard for paragraph returns and margins.

Aside from some Charlie Parker on the soundtrack and some spirited voice-over narration from Sam Riley as Sal Paradise (Kerouac’s alter ego in the book), the first 45 minutes of Salles’ film breathes with little excitement or vitality, instead overstating the characters’ transgressive activities—we see lots of jonesing for weed, some man-on-man kissing, a bit of nudity from Kristen Stewart as Dean’s girlfriend, Marylou. But in today’s era of TV shows like Californication and Shameless, what’s the point? Salles and screenwriter Jose Rivéra are mostly uninterested in establishing a context for the characters’ live-in-the-moment quest for freedom. It’s not clear early on what makes Dean (Garrett Hedlund) such an alluring figure to Sal, and there’s barely a sense of the puritanical status quo that exists outside of their travels.

The film finds its footing in the second half, though, as disillusionment sets in among the characters—including Dean’s wife, Camille, played by Kirsten Dunst—and Salles’ compositions, photographed by Eric Gautier, finally seem to claim some visual authorship. Riley is On the Road’s standout; he feels authentic of the era and faithful to the rhythm of the book. Hedlund lends too much of an Abercrombie presence but otherwise commands the film’s linchpin role. Stewart, as is customary, frowns before delivering her lines. Amy Adams, Elisabeth Moss, and Viggo Mortensen (as William S. Burroughs, named Old Bull Lee in the book) appear in bit parts. (www.themadones.us)

Author rating: 6/10