Kill Your Darlings Review

Kill Your Darlings

3 stars out of 4

By Brett Takeshita

Hate the beat generation? Hate movies about the beat generation even more? Never fear. Kill Your Darlings might be the movie to change your mind.

This film centers upon Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe). The young, brilliant future-poet enrolls at Columbia University, only to discover that he's lived a sheltered life. He's shocked yet intrigued by the debauchery around him. Then, a few people change his life and strip him of his sheltered innocence. Of course Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston) and William Burroughs (Ben Foster) influence Ginsberg with their radical literary ideas and passion for writing. However, the most magnetic and intriguing man of all is the mysterious yet free-spirited Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan). Together, Ginsberg and Carr cause all sorts of ruckus with their artistic and literary visions. They constantly drink and write during the day and then party it up at night. The two continue to get closer and closer until a murder occurs that shakes up the entire beat generation and causes waves of both brilliance and madness.

Writer-director John Krokidas (with the help of co-writer Austin Bunn) has made Kill Your Darlings the most accessible and exciting beat generation film in quite some time. It even surpasses some solid recent works like On the Road and Howl because it tells a more engaging, streamlined story that holds your interest throughout. If you, like me, don't know much about the story of Ginsberg and Carr, you will find yourself surprised by some of the dramatic twists and turns that seem almost to crazy to be true. Krokidas injects the picture with a lot of pizazz and interesting stylistic choices so that the film always dazzles. Unlike some other beat generation period pieces, Kill Your Darlings moves at a very nice pace, and there is always eye-candy to feast upon.

But truly the most engaging aspect of Kill Your Darlings is the acting from Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan. They have some of the most amazing, convincing chemistry that I've seen in any film all year. During some moments, their chemistry generates pure steam that absolutely wows. Daniel Radcliffe proves that he's capable of doing much more than Harry Potter. He takes some risks with this performance and shows off great range. However, the real winner here is Dane DeHaan. He yet again nails each scene and steals the whole movie. He is a brilliant actor, and here, he embodies freedom, excitement, edginess, and depth. He makes Lucien Carr the most believable person here, which isn't exactly an easy feat. When DeHaan isn't on-screen (which luckily isn't too often), Kill Your Darlings becomes a little dull. His work here is that engaging.

All of the supporting performances here are fantastic. One of the key supporting performances is Elizabeth Olsen as Edie Parker. She hardly gets any screen time, but she is insanely riveting with each moment. I wish that we got to see more of her in this film, for she's too good to underutilize.

Kill Your Darlings is one of the most intriguing and artistic films of the year, and I was enthralled the entire time. The ending stayed with me for quite some time, and I found myself thinking about this film long after it was over. Kill Your Darlings is a winner.