Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Neil Cassady has long been one of the most interesting characters in recent literary history. Though he really only penned one book (whose name I can't remember as of right now), his letters, life and exploits served as a muse for more than one author (Kerouac, Ginsberg, Kesey, Garcia, etc) in more than one period. Though Cassady didn't have much of a literary output, he did write letters. Those were both plentiful, literary and chock full of interesting stories and insights on his life. Following the literary tradition of old, this movie is based upon one letter that Cassady wrote to Jack Kerouac.

I love this premise of the movie, since they don't throw much of the rest of his life into the movie, and they don't pretend to have the definitive version of his life story. Rather, they only attempt to dissect the events that were portrayed in the letter, with little bits of outside information thrown in for good measure. Through their analysis they give Cassady the appearance of a Byronian Hero whose tragic flaw would be his total devotion to the person that he is with at that particular time rather than to his dreams and ambitions overall.

I will attempt to do this without giving much of the movie away. But the one thing that this movie has, if nothing else, is an interesting look into the life and dreams of Cassady and the problems that he faced throughout his life of achieving these dreams, whether through external or internal forces (and one can argue either of them).

This is pretty much the theme of the entire movie, the struggle of Cassady to overcome these forces (and it really explores the sources of these forces -- from a few different people's point of view). I will point out that this struggle is really tough to watch some times, it is quite reminiscent of "One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest" in these regards, making me almost painfully mad at the end of the movie, but realizing that I knew what was going to happen the entire time (I can hold out hope, can't I?).

I would suggest this movie to just about anyone, especially those who are interested in the beat literary movement and the character of Neil Cassady in general. I will say that there were a few characters I was trying to place a historical name to, but couldn't, but I think that's because its been quite some time since I've actually read any of the beats.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older