Magic Trip (2011)

A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster's fabled road trip across America.

Directors:

Alison Ellwood, Alex Gibney

Writers:

Alex Gibney (screenplay), Alison Ellwood (screenplay),

Stars:

Stanley Tucci, Timothy Leary, Jack Kerouac

Cast

Credited cast:
Stanley Tucci	...	Narrator
Timothy Leary	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jack Kerouac	...	Himself (archive footage)
Allen Ginsberg	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ken Kesey	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jerry Garcia	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ram Dass	...	Himself (archive footage)
The Grateful Dead	...	Themselves (archive footage)
Neal Cassady	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bob Weir	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ken Babbs	...	Himself (archive footage)
Phil Lesh	...	Himself (archive footage)
Paula Sundsten	...	Herself (archive footage)
Ron McKernan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Kathy Casamo	...	Herself (archive footage)

Storyline

A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster's fabled road trip across America.

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Taglines:

Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug content, language and some nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 August 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Magic Bus

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$14,367 (USA) (5 August 2011)

Gross:

$153,943 (USA) (28 October 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

A&E IndieFilms, Phoenix Wiley

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ken Kesey is credited for coining the phrase "Do your own thing," and in this film, the Pranksters are shown to be 'inventing' the process of tie-dyeing.

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Soundtracks

"Legend Of A Mind"
Written by Ray Thomas
Published by TRO-Essex Music International Inc.
Performed by The Moody Blues
Courtesy of Decca Music Group Limited under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Disappointing documentary about the sixties and some unconventional people

This could have been a movie reminiscent of those often celebrated sixties. However, the people portrayed in this home movie avant la lettre, were far from average. Their ways of living and what we saw thereof was on a safe distance from our own memories of that time.

I can understand the attraction of the 100 hour film footage that was left behind. But condensing it into a feature film length, does not work. For starters, we got a super fast intro of characters, leaving unclear who was who, and what tied them together. Secondly, the purpose of the journey was left equally unclear (maybe there wasn't any). Thirdly, it kept us wondering about the vast number of practical aspects for such a journey, like money, groceries, repairs, petrol, and so on. Of course, all this only proves that I wouldn't have blended in with this company, being much too serious and too organized for such a journey to even think about.

Anyway, it offered a nice excuse to show TV and movie fragments of that time, and pictures of every-days lives and streets. Also, we saw repeated police checks for no reason, demonstrating that their overall appearance (painted bus, haircut, clothes, etc) was "different". A nice side effect was that we saw and heard VSOP music fragments of that time, working well to refresh our memories. Similarly, it showed us how progressive people dressed in the sixties. Could that be all there is to fill 107 minutes of film, and keep our attention span??

All in all, what we saw was kaleidoscopic, to say the least. On one hand, it was interesting for some­one who grew up in that time (like me) but nearly forgot all about it (I did). On the other hand, it did not go beyond the family album level with pictures from the past. Leaves us wondering how more than 100 hours of film footage and sound fragments could have survived the continuous chaos these people used to live in. Again, this question proves that it was not my kind of company. Maybe good for us that they existed, important as they may have been as a catalyst for cultural changes, if only to practically demonstrate how to detach yourself from the daily grind and drop all common conventions.