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In 1946 Denver, an aspiring writer who enjoys irresponsible adventures with his friend writes a letter about his life before and after the suicide attempt by his sad, commitment-seeking girl... Read allIn 1946 Denver, an aspiring writer who enjoys irresponsible adventures with his friend writes a letter about his life before and after the suicide attempt by his sad, commitment-seeking girlfriend.In 1946 Denver, an aspiring writer who enjoys irresponsible adventures with his friend writes a letter about his life before and after the suicide attempt by his sad, commitment-seeking girlfriend.
Cristine Rose
- Mrs. Greenway
- (as Christine Rose)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe letter on which this movie is based was referred to by its author Neal Cassady, and its recipient Jack Kerouac as "the Joan Anderson letter" (even though the only extant fragment more prominently and dramatically dealt with a different girlfriend of Neal's at the time, nicknamed Cherry Mary). This letter, written in December 1950 about events in Cassady's life from the summer through Christmas of 1945, was "lost" circa 1954 and 1955. But before that happened, a 5,000-word fragment (on which this movie is based) had been copied (retyped) likely by Kerouac himself, and was subsequently published in 1964 in a small San Francisco literary magazine called "Notes From Underground", then again later in Cassady's posthumous autobiography "The First Third" (beginning "To have seen a specter isn't everything ..."). The entire 16,000-word letter by Cassady - which Kerouac had praised as a turning point in his approach to writing - was never seen again after 1955 - and consequently became something of a Holy Grail in the Beat world. Miraculously, in 2012, the entire letter was found after nearly sixty years in old boxes that had been stored since being rescued from the Sausalito publisher Golden Goose's garbage when it folded in 1955. It's set for auction on December 17, 2014.
- GoofsDianne Reeves wasn't born until 1956 but her "Jingle Bells" is used in the soundtrack.
- Quotes
Neal Cassady: One startled look and I knew, I was right back where I'd started.
- Crazy creditsThe film is introduced with these sentences:
A man's life is merely a collection of events, building one upon the other. When all the events are tallied: the triumphs; the failures; the mistakes, their sum makes up the man.
These are but a few events in the life of "Superman".
- SoundtracksBetter Get It in Your Soul
Written by Charles Mingus
Performed by Charles Mingus
Courtesy of Columbia Records
Featured review
Seeing that the whole movie is based on a letter from Neal Cassidy to Jack Kerouac, I reckon Stephen Kay did an excellent job of re-creating the essence that was Cassidy and his neer-do-well existence.
You felt for Neal (played very well by Thomas Jane ). He could almost taste the sweetness of a well balanced life - the honey at home the white picket fence the dog running around in the yard, but circumstance (his likings for the female of the species, penchant for stealing cars and his friendship with good 'ol HARRY [played brilliantly by KEANU REEVES]), just got in the way of true happiness.
The supporting cast give good all round performances, especially Claire Forlani as the girl of Cassidy's 'dreams'.
This movie catches the 'beat' excellently with great visuals and a Class A soundtrack.
Highly recommended.
You felt for Neal (played very well by Thomas Jane ). He could almost taste the sweetness of a well balanced life - the honey at home the white picket fence the dog running around in the yard, but circumstance (his likings for the female of the species, penchant for stealing cars and his friendship with good 'ol HARRY [played brilliantly by KEANU REEVES]), just got in the way of true happiness.
The supporting cast give good all round performances, especially Claire Forlani as the girl of Cassidy's 'dreams'.
This movie catches the 'beat' excellently with great visuals and a Class A soundtrack.
Highly recommended.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $4,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $46,362
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $12,836
- Jun 22, 1997
- Gross worldwide
- $46,362
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997) officially released in India in English?
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