On the Road (2012)

We liked this bro-mance between a writer and his adrenaline-addicted (among other substances) pal, based on the Jack Kerouac classic of traveling hipsters. Intense sexy young folks, wonderful music (songs and soundtrack), beautiful cinematography, magnificent picture cars, and high production values all around (to be expected when Francis Coppola is an executive producer) are among its virtues. Garrett Hedlund (last in these pages in Country Strong) is compelling as the over-the-top Dean Moriarty, who was inspired by Kerouac's friend Neal Cassady. Sam Riley (much lauded for Control (2007) but he's new to me) simmers as the writer Sal Paradise, the Kerouac character who does the voice-over. Tom Sturridge (the young man in Pirate Radio) broods as their gay poet friend Carlo Marx, based on Allen Ginsberg (Ginsberg probably would've been happy to see pretty, slim Sturridge in the role). On the feminine side we have Kristen Stewart (most recently blogged in The Runaways) as Dean's teenage wife Marylou, Kirsten Dunst (last in Melancholia) as his second wife Camille, Alice Braga (daughter of Sonia, Alice was great in City of God (2002), I Am Legend (2007), and Blindness, among others) as Sal's girlfriend in one sequence, and Amy Adams (most recently mentioned in Trouble with the Curve and Oscar-nominated for The Master) as the wife of a friend in another part that happens to be funny. Elisabeth Moss (Darling Companion) and Viggo Mortensen (A Dangerous Method) have cameos, the latter representing William Burroughs. Since it's a road trip in dozens of locations, there are too many other cast members to name here.

Brazilian Director Walter Salles (best known for Central Station (1998) and Motorcycle Diaries (2004)) keeps the tone fast and loose from the screenplay adaptation by Jose Rivera, who also adapted Che Guevara's autobiography and another writer's book for Motorcycle Diaries.

The soundtrack (listed here with clips) flips back and forth between fine jazz of the period (late 1940s and early 1950s) and lovely moody music (compilation available here) by Gustavo Santaolalla (last mentioned in Biutiful).

One of the National Board of Review's Top Ten Independent Films of 2012, this has somehow been misunderstood (44% average critics/40 audiences on rottentomatoes) but my Jack and I had a good time and recommend it to iconoclasts of drinking age.