Kill Your Darlings (2013)

Allen Ginsberg arrives at Columbia, excited to be free of his stifling home life. He's immediately gets drawn into a circle of friends who challenge him to sample everything he’s offered. Together, they form “The New Vision,” which boils down to an often-high anarchist group having the time of their lives.

The film starts out strong. I’d kind of forgotten how the first couple of months of college feel. There's so much freedom, endless possibilities, and a shaking off of who you were just a few days ago to become someone much more interesting -- someone much more you. It’s scary and unreal and the film captured it perfectly. But then we get into the “main” story, which has to do with a murder & a homosexual affair when homosexuality itself was a crime. Things get a a bit less relatable and a lot less fun at that point, which slows down everything considerably.

So there’s a fun half and then there’s a miserable half. Now, I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with that and, since it’s based on a true story there’s probably not much that should’ve been done about it anyway. Maybe if I was a beat poet enthusiast I would’ve been captivated throughout. 

B-