Customer Reviews

Beat

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This film could have been subtitled 'The story of Joan Vollmer', as it is based around her last months before William S Burroughs - her husband - shot her.
Courtney Love does much to glamorise a pretty much unknown beat legend character, and provides a languorous air as she floats between scenes as the estranged Mrs Burroughs.

However, for me, the story veers too much from the truth to order to create a mainstream product. This is a pity when you are dealing with real lives and real literary history.
The disintegrating, complex relationship between the married couple would have sufficed for an interesting enough story for a Beat fan, but may not have provided much 'spice' for the public.
In this version of events, Joan's use of benzedrine (speed) is played down and her rampant addiction and resulting degeneration is never explored, this could be because of the intended general american audience.
I'm not too sure of the whole Lucien affair thing either...

At the closing credits, you're left with a feeling that perhaps Joan Vollmer may have emerged alongide the greats of the beat movement had she not been killed.
In fact, she may not have lasted much longer on her own as alcoholism, the effects of her addiction, drinking and a long-standing illness began to overtake her.(...) pretty much covers it.

One final note for Burroughs fans looking to buy - all the actors do a great job of each character, Keifer Sutherland puts some effort in with the mannerisms and delivery (+ a spot-on wardrobe) in the crucial role.

As usual, Reedus delivers better acting than most in the movie, yet he forgoes due credit lack of a bigger name. Definitely an intriguing movie. Sutherland does a good job as always. Courtney Love is slightly distracting.

I'd reccommend this if you're interested in the subject, or would like to see more of the phenomenal Norman Reedus. I've yet to see him perform poorly in any movie, regardless of the audience or the budget of the film.

I have to admit I am huge Courtney Love fan. I have really enjoyed her in 200 cigarettes and The people vs Larry Flint where she proved to everyone that she can indeed act. I have to admit that I am not very familiar with the whole beat generation,but I have read the works of Burroughs, Ginsberg, and Keurorac. I didn't find out about this movie untill recently, andu assumed that Courntey as Mr. Burroughs wife, would be a minial role. To my suprise she is pretty much a central character of the movie. I feel that the movie had some wonderful cinematography, but the acting was a little bit low keyed for all those involved. Still for any enthusiasts of Courtney Love its a must. She played her part well and I am afraid that the subtly in her characters experession through out the film may have either been intentional or chalked up to poor directing. In any case the film is definitely worth a look.

This movie was obviously made for William Burroughs/Beatnik fans only! Slow moving with a lot of dialogue, although interesting to see a glimpse into everyday life of Burroughs/Ginsberg and others. A "must see" for fans; A "hard to get through" for non-fans.

This film was much better than expected, great performances and a visual treat, wonderful light and color, and you can almost smell the lush, tropical foiliage of Mexico and Guatemala. I loved Courtney Love. She never had a bad scene and was gorgeous throughout, like a young Anna Magnani. It was fine seeing Kiefer in something so different than "24", and Ron Livingston played a very tight and appealing Allen Ginsberg. There is much to enjoy here. It is a fascinating glimpse into the time period and the lives of these turbulent souls. Take a trip to Mexico City and visit with the Burroughs. It'll make all your headaches disappear.

I rented this film with high hopes as I am a fan of William S. Burroughs and to a lesser extent Allen Ginsberg. Unfortunately, however, it didn't take long for this film to disappoint me. Coming in at 80 minutes I felt that the plot (the time period building up to WS Burroughs' "accidental" shooting of his wife Joan Vollmer) never got a chance to develop and thus the characters were nearly impossible to identify with, much less have sympathy for. At the end I was just happy that it was over and couldn't help but laugh at Jane's supposedly haunting Conradesque last words. The score was also very annoying as it droned on in heroic intonations-reminiscent of the beautiful and fitting music in the Shawshank Redemption-only in this film there is no redemption, tragedy or depth at all. Perhaps, it could have been better if the director would have had more time to develop the plot and the characters-it seems that he expects that the viewer will already know all the details. Keifer Sutherland does a nice job capturing Burroughs' voice and mannerism, but is undone by poor performance by Courtney Love, who seems to be playing herself-once again-instead of Vollmer. I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone, but the most dedicated Burroughs' fan and even then just for the curiosity.

So, before buying this item I didn't know there were different versions of the film; and the one I watched on netflix was different than this one, (the only difference being that this one had flashbacks where the netflix one just put all that stuff at the beginning); but other than that for a movie I bought for a PENNY I was very happy with this purchace.

Although this is not a great film, "Beat" is better and more engaging than I thought it would be. I've never been a fan of William S. Burroughs (I read Naked Lunch and hated it), but this film is really about his wife, Joan (Courtney Love), who I knew nothing about before seeing this film, other than that she was killed in the bizarre stunt portrayed at the beginning and end of the film. "Beat" depicts Joan as the center of a small group of artistic, self-destructive friends who include famous writers Allan Ginsberg and William Burroughs (who Joan marries and has two children with, despite his open homosexuality). Before her death, Joan serves as long-suffering wife, friend, and unrequited love object for the three men who make up the dysfunctional little clique.

What's interesting about Courtney Love is that a woman who has such an over-the-top, larger-than-life persona can actually appear very subtle as a film actress. In the late 90's, after her (deservedly) praised performance in "The People Vs. Larry Flynt", Courtney Love actually had a shot at a successful film acting career. "Beat" is the first time I think I've ever seen her playing a true romantic lead, and I was surprised by how well she does here. Courtney Love is not a conventional beauty, but with her wide, expressive mouth, husky voice, and air of mystery, she is believable playing a woman who served as a muse and object of desire for a small group of creative friends, two of which ended up famous for their contributions to the "beat" generation of writers.

If Courtney had been able to maintain her sobriety and sanity, she could have emerged as a great character actress. This film offers a glimpse of what might have been.

I will openly admit that I don't know a lot about the Beat poets -- romantic or classical poets are more my type.

So I don't know EVERYTHING that is wrong with "Beat," a movie that chronicles the dramatic crumble of William Burroughs' marriage to Joan Vollmer. But I do know what the movie's problems are -- the acting is patchy, the story meanders, and it's hard to care about the dying marriage of two people who don't even share the screen for most of the movie.

Two years ago, William Burroughs (Kiefer Sutherland) and his common-law wife Joan Vollmer (Courtney Love) helped Lucien Carr (Norman Reedus) after Carr killed a hanger-on who had sexually assaulted him. Now Carr is back, and he's apparently in love with Joan but not sure if he wants to also bring along her kids.

So while Burroughs goes on a vacation with a boyfriend, Joan impulsively goes off with Carr and Allen Ginsberg (Ron Livingston), and begins to seriously consider leaving her husband. Of course, it inevitably leads to tragedy... and since they show it in the very first scene, I'll just say that it involves a "William Tell act."

Anyone hoping for a cinematic dash of beat flavor is going to cry after they see this movie -- the beat movement and their work is barely touched on. It's like the producers heard, "Real life accidental death/possible murder by famous figure!" and decided to make a movie about it without knowing much about any of the people involved.

In fact, most of the movie is a slow, rather dreary trip through the Mexican forests, where people talk and occasionally kiss; and we have some brief glimpses of Burroughs trying to cuddle his boyfriend in a dingy bedroom, as well as sepia-toned flashbacks. The narrative just sort of oozes along, with a few quotables that clunk off the ear ("But people decay more promptly than Mayan temples").

In short, it's... pretty, but very boring. As for the dramatic and infamous death scene, there doesn't seem to be any ambiguity about whether it was deliberate or not.

Sutherland gives aperfect impression of Ginsberg's voice, but he spends most of the movie looking like he's confused by his ill-defined character. But he does do a good job near the end, such as when we see Ginsberg tearing up while having a knife resharpened. Courtney Love looks like she's stoned most of the time, slurring and drowsily twisting her large lips, while Reedus and Livingston are excellent but mostly wasted.

"Beat" is allegedly about the beat poets and the death of Joan Vollmer, but don't be fooled. There's hardly anything of the "beat" in "Beat," just the slow and uninvolving death of a marriage.

This is admittedly a dog of a movie. All of the cast in it have proven themselves in other films, but this one misses the mark. The only thing that's remotely interesting is the ending, and it's not something that anyone would write home to mom about. There is a bit of clever dialogue in the movie as well, mostly coming from Courtney Love's character, but in general this is not really worth your time or money (though it DID have a plot and it DID follow the plot, which is more than can be said for about 90% of the Action movies out in the market today, which is ALSO why it got 2 stars instead of 1).

I can't even think of a comparable film that would be better to recommend, as it's not really comparable to much... I'd just steer clear of this film unless you're an extremely huge Beat Generation fan, and even then, I'd be wary.