Jack Kerouac was the best known and among the most influential writers to come out of the Beat movement of the 1950s, and this feature combines dramatic interpretations of his stories, re-enactments from his life, and documentary footage of interviews with those who knew and worked with him, to paint a new portrait of this enduring literary figure. Director Doug Sharples retraces Kerouac's restless journeys across America (the writer is played by Bill Mabon), visiting places he lived and cities he loved, while Kerouac's professional and private lives are discussed by fellow writers Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Ken Kesey, and Ed Sanders, as well as by Kerouac's first and second wives (Edie Parker and Stella Sampas Kerouac), his daughter Jan Kerouac, and his literary agent Sterling Lord. (Much of the interview footage comes from a 1982 symposium on Kerouac held in Boulder, CO, by the Naropa Institute.) The film also includes excerpts from Kerouac's 1959 appearance on The Steve Allen Show, during which he read passages from On The Road.
by Mark Deming
synopsis
