On the Road

Walter Salles gives Jack Kerouac’s coming-of-age classic new life with a screen adaptation that burns bright and boldly captures the spirit of the novel. The ensemble cast brings Kerouac’s characters to life with an intensity that overflows from the start. Garret Hedlund gives a standout performance as a kinetic Dean Moriarity, the beautiful star who draws everyone in his vicinity into the vortex of his boundary-pushing paths to self-discovery. Sal Paradise (Sam Riley) narrates as he builds up an archive of boozing, sexing and drugging to reference in his future life as a writer and everyone falls for Marylou (Kirsten Stewart), who challenges the societal constraints placed on her sexuality because of her gender whenever the opportunity arises. Fuelled by post-war Beat Generation disillusionment, Dean, Sal and Marylou hit the road against a backdrop of jazzy ‘50s cool, to discover, find and challenge the definition of freedom.