ken558 A movie is definitely in big trouble if the cameo roles (and there are many here) are way way more interesting than the movie is by a long shot. And yes, this movie is that movie.It has pretty good cinematography, very competent actors all round. Each minute if taken in itself could be part of a great movie … but string them all together all 143 minutes of it (and I saw the long version!) …. it becomes one pointless uninteresting movie.The many many sex scenes are unnecessary and pointless. It's the only movie that could make Kristen Stewart wanking off two guys, all three totally naked while speeding down the road … totally inconsequential and just plain contrived and boring.If this movie had come out when the characters it was based on were still fresh and hot … like in the 60s … it could have been of some interest. In the 21st century … it's passé. Seeing a bunch of unremarkable everyday deadbeats wasting their pointless life on pointless things … who cares. Deadbeats traveling around doing irresponsible selfish nonsensical things while simply backstabbing and laying waste to one another … just not interesting at all.But the worse of it is, it's really not about the material nor the time nor the premise. The main problem is really just mundane uninspired direction and scripting (though technically competent but not great). A movie like this needs to take on a very different inspired approach that would bring out the freshness and the meaning of these meaningless souls straying in the American landscape in the beat era (and not just come across as ordinary boring deadbeats who you'd rather not bother to know). But the opportunity was lost on the director and the scriptwriter who just did the technically competent 'tell it like it is' …. boring and uninteresting be damned. And well it is. In truly competent hands, this sort of movie could sparkle, especially with such a good cast and cameos. As it is, the cast efforts …. simply wasted.Quoting or mumbling poetry and having percussion jazz just doesn't cut it … just makes it come across as desperate, pretentious, uninspired. (Btw - the percussion jazz was nice, but out of place in this movie and comes across as misplaced and distracting) Truly, what a waste!

Chris Ioannou So, to be honest here I neither have read the book nor I care about its content. I am here to express my opinion on the movie itself without taking in consideration any linkings between the film and Kerouac's novel.Well, at first I had no high expectations about the movie as I tend to "snob" youth oriented stories. However, I have a HUGE crush on Stewart so I gave it a try. I have to say I am amazed. I don't't really know from where to begin. From the outstanding performances of our three protagonists? From the "escape reality" 50's climate of beat generation? I think I'll start from the overall atmosphere of the film. And yes, I am talking about the unstoppable hearts and minds of the youth, that actually dare to seek happiness and ignore the risks of failure. Cause that's what the whole movie is about. About escaping. Road tripping, marijuana, alcohol, sex, jazz and lack of money are the movies ingredients to depict beat generation. And they definitely made it.Far more than a typical "youth madness film", 'On The Road' fills the viewer with nostalgia and crave about the gone past. About the years of innocence and creativity. About our lost selves who seek redemption throughout our living space but they are well hidden into the "normal" or the "reasonable" that society put on our ways as an obstacle to find the true beauty on our existence. A movie about mettle and will to live and to reach the well-kept freedom in ourselves. A hidden masterpiece of our generation.

dallasryan I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of Jack K., nor was I a huge fan of the novel. So in first watching this film, I was thinking how much this movie was sucking it up, but then it just kept hooking me in and it came to a full circle at some point to where I was hoping the film would go on forever because I was liking the characters so much. I loved these characters, and I didn't want it to end. On the Road to nowhere, on the road to finding yourself, on the road to discovery, to change, to never changing, just a really cool film overall. I recommend this film for all of the free spirits and artists out there. I dug it baby, I dug it. These guys were the hippies of their time, drifters, until some of them grew out of it.

brunettewarrior I give this film 3 out of 10 stars because I was extremely bored with the subject matter of the film. It felt like it would never ever end. It was a constant cacophony of meaningless conversations. I could not connect to any of the characters. The protagonist played by Riley was likable enough, but the whole ensemble felt like they lacked depth. Having never fully read the novel because I felt the same painful boredom from it, I'm not really sure if the characters are meant to have any depth or if they represent any particular archetypes. I can say I felt absolute nothing during my viewing of this film and it is a shame. I am a fan of Hedlund.