On The Road is an adaption of Jack Kerouac's novel of the same name. Kerouac writes abouthis time just bumming around this country of our's and apparently he had a knack for meeting fellow future literary geniuses.

Sam Riley plays the young Kerouac and chief among the people he meets is Neal Cassady in the movie Dean Moriarty. Moriarty is played by Garrett Hedlund and characters based Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs are played by Tom Sturridge and Viggo Mortenson.

These guys debauched their way through America before the Korean War. I have to confess I did not know much about them. I found out all but Riley are bisexuals. Quite an influence bisexuality had in the Beat Generation.

I have to say that I was impressed with Hedlund's performance. But I could not like his character of Cassady/Moriarty. A completely irresponsible self centered jerk to put it bluntly. Still Hedlund invests him with a dash of very earthy charm. It's the main reason to see On The Road.

With all this dbauchey going on, when did these guys get time to write?

Sal Paradise (Sam Riley) is a stalled writer who goes on the road. He is joined by the fearless Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund) and his girl Marylou (Kristen Stewart). He encounters various people in his search for freedom from conformity.

Usually the adjective rambling is a derogatory term in a movie review. That's not the case this time. It's the iconic American story of rambling through the States. The fact is that director Walter Salles is unable to bring any energy or excitement into this search for freedom. There is only a couple of memorable moments in this movie. The best is when they are stopped by the cop. Other than that, the movie passes by without much effect. That's a far cry from the book.

The aspirant writer Sal Paradise (Sam Riley) befriends the reckless and sexually liberal Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund) and they travel across the United States of America in a journey of sex and drugs with their friends.

"On the Road" is a boring and uninteresting journey of sex and drugs. It is impressive how the Brazilian director Walter Salles wastes a cast with the talented Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Alice Braga, Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen among others in such a turkey. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "Na Estrada" ("On the Road")