MovieChat Forums > On the Road (2012) Discussion > the film lacks 'soul'

the film lacks 'soul'

posted 12 years ago by SN51431
15 replies | jump to latest

In this film, the actors over act in parts and I never sense any "truth" from the actors who played the real people.

The book, On the Road, is haunting. I read it and became obsessed and possessed. This film never even comes close to getting inside me. It seems miscast and the actors seem to have no sense of the material. It's superficial and the actors are so wrong. They just do not get it right.

We never get any sense of "the man," Sal Paradise. The film never delves, it is superficial and it's just sad.

In On the Road, Dean was on a spiritual journey, and in this film we never get any sense of his inner life. He is just one dimensional.

The film lacks heart and it lacks soul. There is no real feeling. I felt nothing.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] jerrellejames-1 12 years ago

@ SN51431

We never get any sense of "the man," Sal Paradise. The film never delves, it is superficial and it's just sad.

I agree. Sal acts more like a fly on the wall than a willing participant in all the 'excitement.' I'll also add that Sam Riley did a weak job as Jack Kerouac's alter-ego.

In On the Road, Dean was on a spiritual journey, and in this film we never get any sense of his inner life. He is just one dimensional.

I agree. The film played too heavily on Dean's reckless bad boy image than on his quest.

The film lacks heart and it lacks soul. There is no real feeling. I felt nothing.

... and this is the brunt of all the negative reviews. It fizzled rather than sizzled with youthful energy.

@ Vigilius-Haufniensis

. I found the film quite moving and deep and full of soul

Moving? Deep? Full of soul? What exactly was so profound about a bunch of aimless losers getting stoned and laid?

[–] SN51431 12 years ago

Thanks for the reply. This film did not in any way (in my opinion) come close to getting Jack Kerouac's book right. The characters in this film were empty shells and just poor imitations of the real people they were supposed to represent.

[–] Xcalat3 12 years ago

I agree with the OP, it misses "feeling" if that makes an sense. the actors same more like cartoons than real people.

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] rj_88 12 years ago

Oh, hipsters. The book was great and still gets my blood bumpin for traveling on the motorcycles with my buddies. But this movie did a great job showing what really the people in On The Road were like. They didn't sugarcoat how Cassady really was, n I admired th hell out of them for doing that. Excellent movie.

[–] plumlogan 11 years ago

Calling people who disagree with you 'hipsters' is hipster. It's like saying 'my bad' - saying it is your bad, and there's no way around it.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] ArthurJimbo 11 years ago

i agree. i hate the fu*king word 'hipster' Aand anyone who calls someone a hipster immediately loses all credibility with me. ive never been called a hipster by someone who actually knew me. its always online by someone who has never met me. what a trite surface word! bleh eh. yeah, only hipsters r the people who seriously use the word against another

"Silences crossed by Worlds and by Angels" - Arthur Rimbaud

[–] rj_88 11 years ago

Right... Hipster. It's cool to disregard and whine about how the movie doesn't portray the book as well as it should- sounds like something I'd hear from the hipster snobs at the local college coffee shop drinking mocha while wearing a bob dylan t shirt. Really rustled their jimmies when they noticed I was a football jock who owned 2 Triumph motorcycles(one cafe and one straight stock), read On the Road in highschool, all the while while dressing normal and playing a sport.

Sorry to rant. Just get annoyed hearing all the snide remarks by "snobs"(hipsters) whenever the book comes out. Oh and that I was looked down upon because I was in shape, clean cut and palyed football- all the while doing things and appreciating things they did because they wanted to be different. Cool motorcycles, reading good books, growing up with 17 guitars in household, etc.

Screw em! lol jk. Sweet book n movie

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[–] DCI77 11 years ago

I'm starting to conclude that the people who don't like the word hipster are people who share the same ideals, attitude, similar style, and politics that pervade the minds of those that, if you saw them and talked to them, would, more or less, be a modern day hipster. Basically, hipsters tend to reject the word hipster.

What's bizarre is that such people can call someone a yuppie, say that there is such a classification, yet dismiss the hipster label saying "What even is a hipster?" Now that's very hipster-ish.

2014: Whiplash, Cold in July, that Terrence Malick project set in Austin

[–] puplover 11 years ago

What, you don't think Sam Riley staring out and chronically smoking showed depth? What's wrong w/ you? Ha ha. Yep, I could barely get thru it, glad I didn't pay for it.

[–] Bree_33 11 years ago

In On the Road, Dean was on a spiritual journey, and in this film we never get any sense of his inner life. He is just one dimensional.

.
OTR is unfilmable because it has no real plot. Should there be some books that remain only books?

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