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In the late 1960s, the Psychedelic generation took over Hollywood. Whether they were legitimate artifacts of the scene ("Easy Rider", "The Trip") or cash-ins on the older generations misunderstandings of them ("Skidoo", "Candy"), they seemed to be everywhere. However, their predecessors, the Beat Generation, inspired a lot less films. Thats why whenever I am able to get my hands on a film dealing with either Beats (as opposed to "Beatniks", the popular culture caricature of a bongo-playing bohemian), it holds a negligible amount of interest for me. This is one of the few films made dealing somewhat honestly with the movement. Its not a good film, but it's not without interest either.The film is a blend of a Noir style crime story about a fugitive on the lam and a group of shiftless "Bohemian" artists. The crime angle of the film has been done many times and is uninteresting. However, the scenes in the Beat dens with poetry readings and art exhibits are fascinating. Sure the poetry is laughably horrible and the art is also, but its interesting to see a filmmaker attempt to understand them. Larry Moyer's direction is laced with a few nice avant-garde touches also. As for the acting, it isn't horrible. Barry Newman (later of the cult favorite "Vanishing Point") is too clean cut but tries. And the always amusing Lionel Strander ("Once Upon a Time In the West") provides laughs (not sure if they're intentional or not) as the overbearing owner of the club. The music is by Shel Silverstein and look fast for the legendary Moondog. As I said above, this isn't a good film, but anyone with an interest in finding out how the era's filmmakers looked at the Beats are advised to check it out. (6/10)
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