Last night I was invited to the opening of Film 4’s Summer Screen and the UK premiere of the film adaptation of Jack Kerouac‘s classic novel ‘On the Road‘. After nibbling a few canapes and downing a few of the beers which were on offer (which it turns out is not the best idea when you are sitting to watch a film for 2 hours!) we headed out to the main square of the beautiful Somerset House for this inaugural outdoor screening.
Following a swift interview with the UK contingent of the acting talent we got underway. Not having read the book I had only a vague idea of what to expect but ended up enjoying this film version. It’s beautifully shot and the tale is apparently a thinly veiled autobiographical account of the author’s soul searching trips around the late 1940’s/early 50’s US fueled mainly by sex, drink and drugs (mainly benzedrine as far as i could tell). The role of Sal Paradise is played by the enigmatic Sam Riley whilst the headstrong and reckless Dean Moriarty is ably handled by Garrett Hedlund. All in all I think it’s a good period adaptation of what obviously must be a difficult project to take from book to film given that it has taken over 50 years for this first film adaptation to hit the big screen.
7/10
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- Tom Sturridge & Sam Riley: ‘On The Road’ UK Premiere! (justjared.com)
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