Big Sur is a 2013 adventure drama film written and directed by Michael Polish. It is an adaptation of the 1962 novel of the same name by Jack Kerouac.
The story is based on the time Kerouac spent in Big Sur, California, and his three brief sojourns to his friend Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s cabin in Bixby Canyon. These trips were taken by Kerouac in an attempt to recuperate from his mental and physical deterioration due to his alcoholism and the pressures of his sudden success.
Plot
Jack Kerouac, coming off the recent success of On the Road, is unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and his rise in popularity, and begins battling with advanced alcoholism as a result. He seeks respite first in solitude in the Big Sur cabin, then in a relationship with Billie, the mistress of his long-time friend Neal Cassady. Kerouac finds respite in the Big Sur wilderness, but is driven by loneliness to return to the city, and resumes drinking heavily.
Across Kerouac’s subsequent trips to Big Sur and interleaved lifestyle in San Francisco, he drunkenly embarrasses Cassady by introducing Billie to Cassady’s wife Carolyn, cannot emotionally provide for the increasingly demanding Billie, and finds himself increasingly unable to integrate into suburban life. Kerouac’s inner turmoil culminates in his nervous breakdown during his third journey to Big Sur.
Cast
Unlike the novel, which uses pseudonyms for every major character, the film uses their real names (with the exception of Billie, whose real name is Jackie Gibson Mercer). Also, a few major characters from the novel, such as Allen Ginsberg, Robert LaVigne, Albert Saijo, Gary Snyder, and Alan Watts, were cut from the film.
Jean-Marc Barr as Jack Kerouac
Josh Lucas as Neal Cassady
Radha Mitchell as Carolyn Cassady
Anthony Edwards as Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Stana Katic as Lenore Kandel
Balthazar Getty as Michael McClure
Kate Bosworth as Willamine “Billie” Dabney
Henry Thomas as Philip Whalen
Patrick Fischler as Lew Welch
Jason W. Wong as Victor Wong
Jasper Polish as Vulture Girl
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