Based on Jack Kerouac’s novel, “On the Road” is a semi-biographical tale that featured in May 2012 at the Cannes Film Festival.
Francis Ford Coppola owned the rights to the film and hired the director of “Paris Je t’aime,” Walter Salles who became the master behind bringing the beloved book to the screen.
This attractive class of actors that portrayed the lives of pseudo intellectuals such as Dean (Neal Cassady) played by Garrett Hedlund, Marylou played by Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley as Sal (Jack Kerouac), Tom Sturridge as Carlo (Allen Ginsberg) and Kristen Dunst as Camille were convincing.
Nothing to rely on except for the “nights of living” consisting of sweaty booze and drug filled nights, Sal and his friends travel the roads of the United States with no sense of security or stability.
The cinematography reflects the group’s instability with bits of handheld camera work.
Kristen Stewart mentioned in an interview with Movieline, “To play a part like Marylou, she’s very vivid and colorful but also on the periphery.
“You don’t know her heart and head and the how and why she does what she does.”
“By the time that it came to film, I didn’t want to play her simply as this character that is just a wild and sexy girl.
“With the research we were able to do, applying the whys and getting to know the people behind the characters makes you think about the book differently.
“It’s not easy to live a life like that and that’s what makes these people remarkable.”
It is said that the film had been in the works for decades and almost featured stars like Brad Pitt, James Franco and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Despite the resume and good looks of those three men, Hedlund, Sturridge and Riley give stellar performances in this film, in addition to being eye-catching.
The eventual cast shot in Canada and to prepare for their movie they read popular Beatnik works and watched movies with similar plots and characters.
Hedlund took it upon himself to discover more about his character by discussing the character he was to play with the real life son of Neal Cassady.
Hedlund said, “John Cassady expressed to me big time how wonderful of a father he was and when he came home from work, all three of them would grab on to his bicep and he would lift them all up.
“There were lots of stories from them.
“Stories of sadness or of adventure that were not as careless as “On the Road” sometimes makes him seem.”They were very touching.”
Although relatively slow and somewhat long, lasting over two hours, the film adaptation stays close to its paper roots.
“On the Road” is On Demand and in theaters now.
