Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Directed by John Krokidas
Written by John Krokidas & Austin Bunn
Now this is a movie I was really excited to see because I love the writers of the beat generation and have studied them extensively. I actually started my thesis with the topic or question of did drugs influence the creativity of the beat writers or were they naturally already creative people? I focused on William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg and a bit of Jack Kerouac because I had to narrow my search down, but anyways I spent a whole year researching this and devoting all my time into it, so needless to say I thought this movie would be right up my alley. I feel weird sometimes divulging personal info like that, but I am trying to open myself up more because I know I always like to read others personal anecdotes.
With that said, I came into this movie with high expectations. Kill Your Darlings marks John Krokidas directorial and writing debut and it is obvious that he has potential, but I believe this movie ultimately missed the mark.
The film centers on a young Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe) who is freshly admitted to Columbia University. Upon his arrival he sets himself apart in the classroom by his distinct knowledge and contradictory viewpoints. There he meets Lucian Carr (Dane DeHaan), a charismatic guy with bravado, wit and a certain way about him that draws people towards him. He is like a sexy little magnet with blonde hair and blue eyes that make both men and women just follow his every word.
The two become instantaneous friends and Carr pushes Ginsberg to not only open his mind with poetry, but to push the envelope when it comes to thinking about the old ways of literature and writing. At the club they frequent they collaborate with William Burroughs (Ben Foster) who is in on Carr’s “New Vision” writing group and a partner in crime when it comes to taking drugs.
(When you are on drugs anything is possible!)
Carr declares to them that they will write rebelliously, forgo tradition and poetic pentameter and rhyme and to free their minds from those literary constraints. This he calls, the “new vision,” and he can be credited for starting the beat revolution in a sense with his ideology.
Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston) appears for a short period, as he was in his formative years of being a sailor and a meandering man.
Now the whole story really is about Ginsberg and Carr’s relationship, but the second story at play is Carr’s strange, pseudo love affair with professor David Kammerer (Michael C. Hall). He was obsessed with Carr and would write his papers and was relentless in his pursuits of him.
Carr grows weary of the relationship and stabs him in what he claims was in self defense. I am not really giving anything way since this is on the poster and cover of the movie and I as I mentioned is a sub-plot and even an afterthought of the entire movie.
What I liked about the movie is that it is highly stylized and looks perfect as a replica of 1944, there is even a sepia tone to the entire film which resembles the clothes and dreariness of that time.
I also enjoyed all the literary references, there are not many movies that mention Beowulf and William Butler Yates, so for us book people out there, we had some literary boners going on.
Dane DeHaan is fabulous in the movie, there is something electric and mysterious about this actor and when he is on screen I focus all my energy on watching him. Daniel Radcliffe also did well and it was nice to see him show us how he has refined his acting chops.
The story in the movie fell flat, it started with a bang and an interesting narrative and half way through the film the intent of the movie started to fade away. It was as if the writers were trying to cram in as much literary references and famous icons into the film as possible. I felt at times I was getting bored, yawning, and day dreaming and forgetting I was even watching a movie. The story was disjointed and all over the place, but I find that movies that focus on these iconic writers tend to have a hard time really popping on screen.
There was something deep and intense about their writing, it was on a creative note that at times is even hard to understand and decipher and to try to put these ideas into a movie is very difficult. This movie came off as pretentious and full of narrative fluff. The only movie that has conveyed the feeling of the beatnik era to me is Inside Llewyn Davis, despite it not being about them at all, it truly gave me the sense of what these writers faced and how they felt.
If I had to give this movie some type of a rating, I would say this is the type of movie you watch when you are on your couch bored as hell and would like to hear some background dialogue that will make you feel smart.
}}Melissa
SnapCrackleWatch 
Sounds shit!
I’m always on drugs when I comment on reviews hkgfjjbce…. Hhgdskklp…. I don’t feel so good 😦
me too lsdjfasldfkhasdlkfjsdla I do my best work like that hahaha
So you went and gave this a watch after our conversation ;). Doesn’t sound like you had all that much fun with this one :(.
YES haha after our convo I went and got it, had to see it and yeah was lame. On the Road was better.
What a shame you didn’t like this one! I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m a huge lit nerd and I’m very curious to see Radcliffe in this, so I probably will try to catch it at some point. But I will proceed with caution. Lol. Nice review!
Yes me too I wanted to like it I really REALLY did, I had such high hopes, perhaps that’s why I didn’t like it. That happens sometimes when you think something is going to be great. I heard Miguel was going to have a cameo in it…hahaha
Hahaha gees Miguel is busy, isn’t he? Y’know, I think he had planned a cameo, but then he got booked for Gravity instead. If you look closely, you’ll see him floating around as Space Rubble #4,873
You know what I think he was actually inside Sandra Bullock’s space suit, he’s a serious perv on top of being a diva. 🙂
He does have a pervy side. I blame Eric.
I would love to read your thesis lol. Great post!
Thank you! You liked this one right? For once we differ haha. Oh yes I couldn’t take it anymore so I tested out instead of finishing, but looking back I should have. 😦 oh well right!
Haha yes I do like it, but I get your point. I think because I have no idea what the movie is about hence why I quite enjoyed it. Aww that sucks! But remembering how I was in college, I don’t blame you LOL. Oh well indeed.
This screams pretentious to me! Not something I’ll be checking out to be honest, you’ve warned me off 😉
Yes put on your beret and get out your long cigarette and then maybe just maybe you can watch it.
doesn’t sound like it’s up my alley, nicely done Melissa.
I too like to read bits and pieces of personal stuff every now and then, so thanks!
Cool thank you! I am always hesitant but agreed I like getting to know people especially since we all read each others stuff everyday. 🙂
Your review has interested be, but the flaws you pointed out probably will not make me come to the movie anytime soon. And I usually don’t have a boner for that type of literature haha.
HAHAHA! I was wondering if anyone would catch the boner part. Then you def shouldn’t see it. Thanks for commenting!
Literary boner, huh?
And this is one I haven’t yet seen, though I do intend to rent it soon. Hopefully I enjoy more than you when I do.
Hey you never know you may like it, you will have to let me know what you think!
The fact that it’s about these authors does have my interest, and I like reading that the look of the 40’s is auntentic. The stiory not being as strong as the acting makes me now want to wait and catch it on home video instead. Great post
Great review. : ) Sorry this one was disappointing…
I was more interested in reading about your love of writers of the beat generation & all that. That’s something I always found interesting but never looked into beyond reading On The Road. I skipped watching that recent movie with Kristen Stewart (hate her) but have now come to the realization that Garrett Hedlund is a HOTTIE so I’ll probably check it out… ; ) I spent a bit of time getting more into the whole thing of Ken Kesey & the Merry Pranksters & loved The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test & all that. Oh man – I used to have time to read… : (
Awesome yes I love reading about that generation and everything that went on that time. Really interesting! I hated On the Road too, I think it’s hard to capture their books into movies. I hate Kristin Stewart too! Her presence in that movie bugged the crap out of me and yes Garrett is Gorgeous… umm hello hi hottie! You might want to try Naked Lunch as another book to try out. Me too I used to have time now it takes me forever to finish one book its pathetic. 😦
Oh dear gosh just LOOK at DeHaan smoking! It works for him. He is a brilliant actor and vastly underappreciated. I am hoping to see more work featuring him after The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
I really want to see this, I must just stop being lazy and get to it already! Awesome review, sad to see that it was so disappointing though. I do not have the same insight on it that you do though.
Yes DeHaan seriously he is so good, he is going to be such an awesome actor and have a great career. Can’t wait to see him grow more. Yeah I am curious to hear what you think about it, you must review it when you see it!
He is awesome. I will definitely do so!
What did you study, by the way?
Well when I started that thesis I was doing English, so I ended up not finishing that one, put so much time into it and then I moved to Rhetoric and Writing. I then started another thesis about the rhetoric of the art that was stolen during Nazi Germany (yes they made that into a movie too WTF), didn’t finish that one and I decided to ultimately test out to graduate because it takes forever to finish a damn thesis and girl I was getting tired of school I wanted to leave! Thanks for asking there’s my long weird answer. lol
(Apparently an awful flick)
🙂 I truly appreciate your answer and the time you took with it ahaha. Sounds like you went through quite a bit of studying! I know that feeling of just wanting to be finished and all that but I love studying. I know that makes me sound mad haha!
Oh I understand lol. I also like studying and researching I find it fun, but I needed to be done gf!Are you in school right now?
Hahahaha! I get that! I work full time and study part time. A lot of work, but I love it and it will be awesome when I am done and have my fancy degree!
What are you studying?
I am studying psychology. Love it!
Nice ! I think you will need to provide all of us with therapy when you are done ok. 🙂
Hahahaha I will always be available!