THE DAILY BEAT: The Last Time I Committed Suicide

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Last Time I Committed Suicide

Have you seen the film, The Last Time I Committed Suicide? It's based on a letter from Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac and stars Thomas Jane, Claire Forlani, Gretchen Mol, and Keanu Reeves. I have it somewhere around the house, a VHS version, borrowed from my great friend Keith, and we don't own a VHS player.

I just read this 1997 review at CNN Interactive and it makes me want to watch it, despite some harsh criticism.

Anybody out there seen it? What did you think?

2 comments:

Aimon said...: Funny you should ask, I just watched it for the first time a couple of days ago.

Here's what I wrote in my movie journal: "Better than I expected, but with no tangible substance. As if they were content to represent a character or, even, an attitude, without actually understanding (or even trying to understand) the real heart of it all."

The actors are pretty good, and the story is surprisingly faithful to the contents of Neal Cassady's "Joan Anderson" letter (see: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Workshop/5083/letter3.html). But, I don't know, I feel like something is missing from that movie.

Probably worth seeing, at least for those who have a pre-existing interest in Cassady and the whole "Beat" mythos.

Salutations,

Simon; April 8, 2009 at 1:43 PM
Rick Dale, author of The Beat Handbook said...: Cool! I didn't make the connection that it was the "Joan Anderson letter" (that I wrote about in a previous post: http://thedailybeatblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/several-notable-kerouac-resources.html).

Thanks for the review!; April 8, 2009 at 5:25 PM

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Reviews of The Beat Handbook

Gerald Nicosia, author of the acclaimed Kerouac biography Memory Babe, said The Beat Handbook is "full of Jack's heart."

Jared Randall, author of the excellent book of poetry, Apocryphal Road Code, said this about The Beat Handbook: "Sometimes a book comes along at just the right time. In my wandering pack of experiences, I find they often do. Enter The Beat Handbook by Rick Dale."

Kenneth Morris, Kerouacian extraordinaire, said this:
"I just finished reading Rick Dale's beautiful utterance and call to action of Kerouac mind-set and zen sensibilities. It made me laugh and reflect on my own life and road I have naturally grooved into after absorbing the Kerouac canon. The road less traveled always had my name on it. And that has made all the difference. The Beat Handbook 100 Days of Kerouactions reaffirms the attitudes and ideology that made the Beats and Kerouac the important men of ideas that America (and the world) thirsted for, needed, and swallowed whole. Beautiful, absorbing, Top Ten whipsmart from my articulate, tender-hearted friend and fellow traveler. Highly recommended."