'On the Road' in Total Film's 49 Films That Will Define 2011


TotalFilm #30 On The Road
(June, Estimated)

The Talent: Walter Salles (director), Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart.
The Pitch: Adaptation of Jack Kerouac's classic Beat novel, the story of a 50s teenager Sal Paradise who hooks up with free-spirit Dean Moriarty on a cross-country, counter-cultural road trip.
The Hook: One of the great unfilmed novels, Salles (no stranger to road movies after The Motorcycle Diaries) reckons he's cracked it, partly by retracing the book's actual journey in companion piece documentary, Searching For On the Road.
Defining Feature: After Howl's entree, this is the main event for 2011's Beat revival, although it's also a major test acting-wise for its young leads.

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