THE PLOT THUS FAR
A recounting of Jack Kerouac’s (here known by the name of his fictional alter-ego Jack Duluoz) three sojourns to the cabin in Big Sur, owned by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Big Sur” asks a lot of people that aren’t familiar with Kerouac. Jean-Marc Barr gives a loving performance as Kerouac, often using the author’s words rather than a melodramatic script. Kerouac has spent the last two years getting trotted out as cinematic pet projects for those that should know better. It’s glad to finally see Michael Polish give direction and life to something that feels closer to the native Beat poet. I’m not that familiar with Polish’s work. Honestly, I thought he was a Siamese twin for the longest time. But, that’s a story for later.
What I’ve seen between “On the Road” and “Kill Your Darlings” is a never-ending series of talents trying to put their stamp on what’s going down with Kerouac. No one bothered to examine what the man wrote and how that informed his life. It’s so screwy the obvious choices that creative talent can miss and Kerouac seems to draw that out in spades. Why does writing about inner demons and finding peace in the tranquility of existence such a hard thing to pin down for most? Times like these, it seems that popcorn cinema’s existence almost informs itself. I think that I just blew my mind, naturally I assume that I lost the dear readers awhile ago.
The DVD comes with no special features. The Dolby 5.1 track sets a sound stage, but it’s not impressive. The real guts of the the film can be found in the clean standard definition transfer. It’s so neat to still see crisp standard definition transfers so close to the end of its life. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to the curious.
RELEASE DATE: 01/14/2014