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ON THE ROAD (2012)Movie Reviews
Drama about Jack Kerouac's pseudo-autobiographical bohemian trips across America as part of the Beat Generation of the late '40s and early '50s. Cast:Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Danny Morgan, Alice Braga, Marie-Ginette Guay, Elisabeth Moss, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo MortensenDirector:Walter SallesRelease Date:December 21, 2012DVD Release:July 30, 2013From:IFC/Sundance SelectsRating:RLength:2 hr 17 min
On the Road (2012) played in key cities to moderate reviews. • Curt Holman wrote in Atlanta Creative Loafing, "...resembles a love letter composed by a teletype machine, which enumerates the facts but never puts the passion on paper." • And Steven Rea wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer, "...an honorable homage." More Reviews Below...
On the Road (2012) Positive Reviews (43 Reviews, reviews below)
Alynda Wheat, People: MODERATE(cg) "I'll never understand the affection -- literary or otherwise -- for Dean Moriarty (Garret Hedlund), the hero of Jack Kerouac's treatise on the beat generation."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 130 words, 01/10/13
Richard Corliss, Time: WEAK "Jose Rivera, the movie's screenwriter, has boiled down Kerouac's grand banquet of events and insights until nearly all flavor escapes.... it misses the beat as well as the Beat."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,416 words, 05/25/12
Jake Coyle, Associated Press: MODERATE(cg) "...made with noble intentions, finely-crafted filmmaking and handsome casting, but, alas, it doesn't pulse with the electric, mad rush of Kerouac's feverish phenomenon."(See all of Jake Coyle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 567 words, 12/20/12
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: GOOD(cg) "The best thing here is Garrett Hedlund's wildly cracked acting as Dean.... what Salles doesn't conjure is the rapture of Kerouac's bohemian romanticism."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 163 words, 01/04/13
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: MODERATE(cg) "...wrongheadedly well-mannered... Jose Rivera's script attempts to jam it all in while director Salles keeps a hand-held camera whirling to suggest churning excitement."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 210 words, 01/04/13
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a strange, diffuse experience, offering occasional glimpses of genuine beauty and mercurial insight but finally failing to grasp Kerouac's overarching vision."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 817 words, 12/17/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
Stephen Holden, New York Times: MODERATE "If there is little to actively dislike, there is a great deal to be disappointed in... I would much rather imagine it than see all the banal mechanics."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 879 words, 12/21/12
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a respectable attempt to adapt a book whose ecstatic rhythms are most likely unadaptable.... perhaps it will inspire some to read Kerouac for themselves."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 368 words, 12/21/12
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...a poetic, sensitive, achingly romantic version of the Kerouac book... A major player in the movie's success is the lyric cinematography of Eric Gautier..."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 906 words, 12/21/12
Kyle Smith, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "Youth isn't like this, but it should be. Hence the everlasting appeal of the book, which finally comes to the screen in a spirited but not quite electrifying film by Walter Salles."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 466 words, 12/21/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "...doesn't really work in dramatic terms. And yet it's worth seeing, to see how close the director and his actors come to capturing the lightning in the bottle."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,000 words, 03/22/13
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: MODERATE(cg) "...does put the pansexuality of the Beats into focus, but even this feels like an old angle after 50 years of Beat scholarship.... simply the retelling of an oft-told tale..."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 345 words, 03/22/13
Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine: VERY GOOD "Salles hasn't reinvented 'On the Road,' but rather turned it into a rambling, beautiful, and occasionally even heartbreaking museum piece."(See all of Bilge Ebiri's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 668 words, 12/21/12
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...does build to a certain rueful poignancy. The film ends with a last, guilty meeting, Paradise's fortunes beginning to rise as Moriarty's fall..."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 481 words, 12/19/12
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "Ironically, a novel that's a paean to unbridled freedom is a prisoner of its own medium and a slave to its intrinsic rhythms. Sorry, 'On the Road' just doesn't travel well."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 680 words, 01/18/13
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "Salles never finds a way to bring the story to life the way he did Ché Guevara's 'The Motorcycle Diaries'... he just moves from one bacchanal to the next..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 165 words, 01/17/13
KEY CITIES (10 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: MODERATE(cg) "...an episodic picaresque... all but obliterates the crazy, brazen, axis-shifting energy of the original work.... Salles' production is too careful, too obediently within-the-lines..."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 242 words, 03/22/13
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "...an honorable homage.... But in Salles, screenwriter Jose Rivera and company's effort to get the details right, they only get so far. And it's not quite far enough."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 459 words, 03/22/13
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "From the idyll's exhilarating start to its lamentable dead end, the film carries us along for an unforgettable ride.... Like the source novel, it rambles but is never incoherent."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 509 words, 03/22/13
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...engaging at times and wonderful to look at, but feels like it's on the cusp of something bigger. But whatever that bigger thing is, it never arrives."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 561 words, 03/22/13
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: VERY GOOD(cg) "...rather sane... it shares the reckless excitement of its young seekers while standing just far enough outside to see the damage they leave in their wake."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 785 words, 03/22/13
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: EXCELLENT(cg) "...a movie that, like the book, is episodic and has dips in energy but has more than its share of glory and illumination.... You get the bigness of the country and the freedom..."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 773 words, 03/22/13
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "Sam Riley is surprisingly convincing.... Salles gives the whole thing an infectious jazzy energy that counters some of the nostalgic drag on the film."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 305 words, 03/22/13
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Viggo Mortensen is a scene stealer as Bull Lee, the pistol-packing, heroin-shooting curmudgeon based on St. Louis native William S. Burroughs."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 415 words, 03/22/13
Tom Long, Detroit News: VERY GOOD(cg) "...explicit and cruel and funny.... It's not a wreck of a movie; it's not a sleek race car either. But there's heat to be felt here."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 277 words, 03/22/13
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (9 Reviews)
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...does build to a certain rueful poignancy. The film ends with a last, guilty meeting, Paradise's fortunes beginning to rise as Moriarty's fall..."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 481 words, 12/19/12
Mack Rawden, Cinema Blend: WEAK(cg) "...a bit of a hot mess.... nothing more than a mediocre showpiece for some very good, though not quite Academy recognition-worthy acting performances."(See all of Mack Rawden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 604 words, 12/23/12
Noel Murray, AV Club: MODERATE(cg) "...weighed down by too much baggage. When these young men get high and shout their toast 'To life,' they don't seem like real people savoring their youth..."(See all of Noel Murray's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 426 words, 12/20/12
Joseph Jon Lanthier, Slant: MODERATE(cg) "Salles emphasizes all of the silly landscape stuff that Kerouac ignored in favor of verbal joys, of the thrill of thinking and speaking and being spoken to thoughtfully."(See all of Joseph Jon Lanthier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 874 words, 12/17/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "Salles never finds a way to bring the story to life the way he did Ché Guevara's 'The Motorcycle Diaries'... he just moves from one bacchanal to the next..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 165 words, 01/17/13
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: WEAK(cg) "...resembles a love letter composed by a teletype machine, which enumerates the facts but never puts the passion on paper."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 735 words, 03/22/13
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: POOR(cg) "...lifeless, soulless, pointless... It's as if the entire film is made up of all the bits in between the interesting bits (which have been cut out)."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 647 words, 11/12/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (6 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: FAIR "...the narrative lacks a strong heartbeat; you keep wondering why the spectacle isn't as affecting as it is picturesque... buoyancy fails because the acting is flat..."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 275 words, 12/21/12
Stephen Holden, New York Times: MODERATE "If there is little to actively dislike, there is a great deal to be disappointed in... I would much rather imagine it than see all the banal mechanics."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 879 words, 12/21/12
David Denby, New Yorker: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...has a slightly threadbare but eager pleasantness... it's always on the verge of imparting some great truth, but it never arrives..."(See all of David Denby's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 453 words, 01/07/13
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...a poetic, sensitive, achingly romantic version of the Kerouac book... A major player in the movie's success is the lyric cinematography of Eric Gautier..."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 906 words, 12/21/12
David Haglund, Slate: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...not a great movie, but it's a pretty interesting work of literary criticism... it occurs to you: The Beat generation was just a bunch of guys."(See all of David Haglund's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 984 words, 12/20/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: GOOD "Evocatively lensed, skillfully made and duly attentive to the mercurial qualities of its daunting source material... pulses with youthful energy but feels overly calculated in its bid for spontaneity..."(See all of Justin Chang's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 873 words, 05/23/12
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the film rarely busts out to provide the sort of heady pleasures it depicts.... While the film's dramatic impact is variable, visually and aurally it is a constant pleasure."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,147 words, 05/23/12
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...a poetic, sensitive, achingly romantic version of the Kerouac book... A major player in the movie's success is the lyric cinematography of Eric Gautier..."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 906 words, 12/21/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...an honorable artistic flop... too gentle, too detached, too respectable and faithful of its source material, failing to convey the wild spirit, heartbeat, tone of the iconic book."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 782 words, 05/26/12
Stephen Holden, New York Times: MODERATE "If there is little to actively dislike, there is a great deal to be disappointed in... I would much rather imagine it than see all the banal mechanics."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 879 words, 12/21/12
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: FAIR "...the narrative lacks a strong heartbeat; you keep wondering why the spectacle isn't as affecting as it is picturesque... buoyancy fails because the acting is flat..."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 275 words, 12/21/12
17.7 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
On the Road (2012)'s reviews are separated by an average 17.7 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
On the Road (2012) (43 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:On the Road (2012)'s reviews cover 91.2% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 25,681 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 597 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
On the Road (2012) Coverage, Volume & Length (43 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 14 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
On the Road (2012)'s reviews on average broke 14 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is On the Road (2012)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
On the Road (2012) (43 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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