Beat

Premise: The true story of the 48 or so hours before Joan Vollmer's (Courtney Love), the second wife of William S. Burroughs (Kiefer Sutherland), death. Also, flashbacks of when and how Lucien Carr (Norman Reedus) killed Dave. Story slightly explained by Allen Ginsberg (Ron Livingston).

If you aren't familiar with beat writing or its authors, the historical context of this film may be lost on you. Jack Kerouac is probably best remembered as the definitive beat writer, but he only plays a small part in the film. His Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is the best place to start if you are interested in learning more.

This film is dark. Very dark. It is concerned with a generation of alcohol-soaked drug addicts highly uncomfortable in their own skin. The way that Gary Walkow's script has the characters speaking to each other suggests that their minds are somehow apart from their bodies. They sound like people who must actually take the time to think before they speak, to slowly form their words and sentences with delicious intent, but they speak too quickly for that to be true. Perhaps the writer never turns off. It reminds me very much of the end of the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot.

Gary Walkow also directed, and he does a brilliant job of it, wringing emotional, exploitative performances from a deeply talented group. I would like to take a minute to point out that people should just leave Courtney Love alone. She is a beautiful and talented woman that shouldn't be blamed for being widowed.

The film is a scant 93 minutes, but its effect on you will last much longer. It is difficult to let go of something so sorrowful. It is difficult not to ponder to love between a husband and wife, and the nature of friendship. Are we drawn together by what we have in common or is there an unifying force that holds us together socially?

There is a question you will need to ask yourself when it is finished. Here it is - did he do it on purpose?