On the Road Reviews
Examiner.com
This makes for a rather uninspired film that, despite being based off of a novel considered a classic, fails to grab the viewer's attention with its meandering storyline and characters that drift in and out of the picture.
Full Review
| Original Score: 1.5/4
HeyUGuys
There are times when the film is incredibly pleasing to the eye but there is sadly little to be found beyond the aesthetic delights.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Slate
On the Road is not a great movie, but it's a pretty interesting work of literary criticism.
Irish Times
Perhaps its a testament to Kerouac's mastery of his own screwy milieu that all attempts to impose order on the material are doomed to fail.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Fan The Fire
In the end, it retains its status as a journey to who-knows-where, yet probably not in the way its original author intended.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Film School Rejects
Walter Salles' take is ultimately a failed attempt to adapt the unadaptable.
Full Review
| Original Score: C-
Boxoffice Magazine
On the Road just can't keep the beat
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/5
Quickflix
A rambling, tedious, seemingly unending mess that can't be salvaged by three decent but mostly underwhelming performances. Maybe some Benzedrine would make the whole experience seem worthwhile.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
sbs.com.au
The straightforward narrative struggles to articulate the giddy thrills of making deep connections, of kindred spirits, and sex, jazz and Benzedrine.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/5
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
If our On the Road is a barely coherent tightrope act - a fizzy word drunk stand-up speed-rapped by an aspiring poet posing as a dumb saint prole - then it's tough to take this pretty version, populated by Gap models in retro Americana fashions.
Full Review
| Original Score: 81/100
Birmingham Post
After more than two hours I felt like I'd been watching The Numb Diaries more than a Tarmac-gripping thriller.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Top CriticAlthough Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" has been praised as a milestone in American literature, this film version brings into question how much of a story it really offers.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
Audiences may find reliving their own travel experiences during On the Road, enjoying the pretty scenery between the occasional nap and restroom break.
Sun Online
On The Road has some great moments - including a brilliant segment with Viggo Mortensen playing the legendary William Burroughs - but ultimately fails to take you on the ride you want.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Daily Express
Aside from a meandering, episodic narrative that never grips or compels the movie is, frankly, no more profound, insightful or thought-provoking than Road Trip or an American Pie movie - and a whole lot less fun.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Little White Lies
You can keep the Zeitgeist embalmed in myth and nostalgia for as long as you like, but to truly reinvigorate it you'll need a whole lot more than a whiskey-hued lens and a frontseat full of pretty faces.
Doddle
Derogatory dismissals of prosaic visual experiences have been around since, well, someone was bored to tears. To the poetic hyperbole of watching paint dry, or grass grow, we can now add: watching a writer write.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/10
Well-intentioned and well-made but self-indulgent exercise tries really hard but falls short.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/5
Daily Telegraph
Neither the journey nor the destination seems to matter a jot.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
It's neither the first nor the best road trip that Mr. Salles has brought to the screen.
