Ooof. It's not that it was bad, per se, it's just that it's On the Road. It is the cliche to end all cliches. Unfortunate though that may be, this movie does not escape that fate. Also, it's got a ton of stars in it. Just like, someone famous or at least semi-famous playing basically every character. And a lot of them are great. I love Viggo Mortensen and Amy Adam's drugged out Old Bull Lee and wife, living in a deteriorating old house somewhere in Louisiana who despite their dysfunctional family weirdness still seem stable in comparison to our supposed hero and friends. And also, Garrett Hedlund is very good. I'm not even saying that because he is very handsome (although he is that also). He just does charismatic, lost, somewhat amoral drifter very well. Good for him!
Actually, I didn't hate most of the performances. And then there was Kristen Stewart. If only she could do something with her face that didn't look like a pained grimace! It's the same face she's been making since Panic Room. MAKE A NEW FACE!
Anyway, even though I thought most of the performances were good it's still just the story itself that had me kind of rolling my eyes and feeling unimpressed. I think its tenets and a lot of what it's trying to say have just become so much a part of American film-making that by the time On the Road made it onto the screen in an adaptation, that way it deserves, we'd already seen most of what it has to say. And I don't think this film says what there is to be said or shows what On the Road has to offer any better than the story itself.
Actors- yes! Cinematography- obligatory, begrudging yes! Story- meh!
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