My Movie Review: Howl

My Movie Review: Howl
2/5

Opening Statement: There was a court case over a particular "obscene" poem written by a great man awhile back. The poem was called Howl by Allen Ginsberg. An exceptionally dark, yet beautiful poet. As we go through his life through his poems, his homosexuality, and overall who Ginsberg was.


What's Good: I wish I could truly say more for an biographical film about one of the greatest poets of our time. Unfortunately I can't. The best I can do is mentioned how great the poems are, which are said throughout the film with some beautiful art to them. I would also give kudos to Franco's absolutely transformative performance, the young man has a knack for acting.


What's Bad: It's just not a well-told story. I'm sure the life of Ginsberg is interesting, unfortunately we flash forward often to a court case for 'Howl' that is entirely uninteresting. In this court scene we find some great talent John Hamm, David Straithan, and Jeff Daniels who are playing some really bland one-dimmensional characters. I wouldn't be surprised if they are scripted as Lawyer #1 and Lawyer #2. I'm certain this case was a pivotal mark in the life of Ginsberg, but using it has a method of story structure fails completely. Also we have Ginsberg being interviewed Mockumentary-style. Here is where Franco has some time to showcase his talent, that and a couple actual scenes where he is not reciting poetry. So we have 2 structure holding up a film very unstably. I went in not knowing much about Ginsberg, and I came out knowing about the same. 


The Rant: When you are making a biographical film, you are taking someone's life in your hands to show the world. Don't treat it so messily. 


Oscar Predictions: None. Bad reviews counted it out, the slightest possibility for Franco if he wasn't already getting a nod for 127 Hours.


Consensus: A complete unstable movie about a fascinating and talented man. Howl tries to use Ginsberg's poetry to make up for their lack of telling us the story of his life, it does ease the pain. But in the end you will feel like you just watched a PBS special.