Howl (2010) - Starring James Franco, Todd Rotondi, Jon Prescott, Jon Hamm. Written and Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Rated R. Available on Netflix Watch Instantly and DVD.
This film focuses on Allen Ginsberg and his poem "Howl," both of which subjects I don't really know that much about. I thought the film would be interesting because of this; I thought that I would learn something new.
But the problem is the film seems to lack focus. Because of the chaotic directing style (that shifts from black and white scenes to color ones, to ones tinted blue with the occasional animated sequence), it's hard to tell what the focus of the film should be: is it a biography of the poet? Is it a telling of what happened with the obscenity trial of Ginsberg's poem? Is it an interpretation of the poem? The film seems unsure of what exactly it is.
However, the performances are great. James Franco was fantastic (which he usually is, not counting Oz: The Great and Powerful). Jon Hamm was also great in his role as a lawyer. But because of the lack of focus, the performances don't really get a chance to be as good as they could have been.
The problem with this film is not that it is necessarily bad. The problem is that it just isn't very good.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
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