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Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place

  • 20112011
  • RR
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster's fabled road trip across America.
Play trailer2:24
2 Videos
35 Photos
Documentary
A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters' fabled road trip across America.A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters' fabled road trip across America.A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters' fabled road trip across America.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
  • Directors
    • Alison Ellwood
    • Alex Gibney
  • Writers
    • Alex Gibney(screenplay)
    • Alison Ellwood(screenplay)
    • Ken Kesey(words and recordings)
  • Stars
    • Stanley Tucci
    • Ken Kesey
    • Timothy Leary(archive footage)
  • Directors
    • Alison Ellwood
    • Alex Gibney
  • Writers
    • Alex Gibney(screenplay)
    • Alison Ellwood(screenplay)
    • Ken Kesey(words and recordings)
  • Stars
    • Stanley Tucci
    • Ken Kesey
    • Timothy Leary(archive footage)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 8User reviews
    • 50Critic reviews
    • 59Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Videos2

    Magic Trip
    Trailer 2:24
    Watch Magic Trip
    Magic Trip
    Clip 2:36
    Watch Magic Trip

    Photos35

    Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron McKernan, and Bob Weir in Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
    Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
    Neal Cassady and Timothy Leary in Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
    Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
    Ken Kesey in Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
    Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
    Ken Kesey in Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
    Ken Kesey in Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
    Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
    Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
    Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
    Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Stanley Tucci
    Stanley Tucci
    • Narrator
    Ken Kesey
    Ken Kesey
    • Self
    Timothy Leary
    Timothy Leary
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Jim Meskimen
    Jim Meskimen
    • Zonker
    • (voice)
    Veronica Taylor
    Veronica Taylor
    • Jane Burton
    Larry McMurtry
    Larry McMurtry
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Jack Kerouac
    Jack Kerouac
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Jerry Garcia
    Jerry Garcia
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Allen Ginsberg
    Allen Ginsberg
    • Self
    Bob Weir
    Bob Weir
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Ram Dass
    Ram Dass
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Andrea Cirie
    Andrea Cirie
    • Gretchen Fetchen
    • (voice)
    Grateful Dead
    Grateful Dead
    • Themselves
    • (archive footage)
    • (as The Warlocks)
    Terry Gross
    • Self - Interviewer
    • (voice)
    Phil Lesh
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Neal Cassady
    • Self
    Bill Kreutzmann
    Bill Kreutzmann
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Kathy Casamo
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • Directors
      • Alison Ellwood
      • Alex Gibney
    • Writers
      • Alex Gibney(screenplay)
      • Alison Ellwood(screenplay)
      • Ken Kesey(words and recordings) (based on the works of)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Martin Scorsese's film foundation helped fund the repair of the damaged Kesey footage by technicians from UCLA, who labored for over a year. Synching up the film to its separate snippets of audio track proved so daunting that director Alison Ellwood resorted to hiring a lip reader to determine what words people were mouthing.
    • Quotes

      Ken Kesey: On the way back, I was driving across country in a big old nice station wagon with a couple of my buddies, nibbling on cactus. As we were driving along, Kennedy began to be killed.

      [news reports stream in]

      Ken Kesey: Everywhere you went, you looked in people's eyes and they all felt the same thing. It wasn't just sadness, it was a loss of an innocence; the loss of the idea that; always the good is going to prevail. There's no way to even nearly depict the pain and the feeling of crisis. The thing that all of us sort of feel when it's real dark.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Roth Show: The New York City Way (2014)
    • Soundtracks
      Let's Go Trippin'
      Written by Dick Dale (as D. Dale)
      Published by Surf Beat Music
      Performed by Dick Dale & His Del-Tones (as Dick Dale and the Del-tones)
      Courtesy of Dick Dale Records

    User reviews8

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    1/10
    If You Want to Know Ken Kesey, Don't Watch This Documentary
    Ken tries for years to edit this film and make it work. He couldn't. And there's good reason: it's really not interesting or compelling. It's basically one tedious home movie.

    And not a good one.

    For all the talk of LSD trips and hte like, these people seem pretty normal. Kesey certainly was. After teh whole magic bus thing he led a very quiet family life in Oregon and taught at the university.

    This documentary is very disappointing. It doesnt capture the times or the spirit.
    helpful•2
    5
    • arfdawg-1
    • Nov 13, 2020

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 5, 2011 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Magic Bus
    • Production companies
      • Magnolia Pictures
      • History Films
      • Optimum Releasing
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $154,521
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $14,367
      • Aug 7, 2011
    • Gross worldwide
      • $155,005
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 47 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital

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