The Last Time I Committed Suicide
1997
The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997) is essentially a biopic of a short
period in the life of Neal Cassady. It is based on a long letter he wrote friend
Jack Kerouac about how he found and lost his true love. Those interested in the
"beats" and their inspiration (Neal Cassady, while being half middle class white
picket fence and half 50s free spirit, he was hero to people like Ferlinghetti
and Kerouac) will need to see this film. It also plays as a tragic love story,
which should help with audience share, and the performances were very good. The
narrative style was unusual, but seemed right for the subject. Unfortunately,
that was not enough of an audience to make the film a success. Cassady makes love to his sweetheart, and then finds her in the bathroom with
her wrists slit. He visits her in the hospital, but finds she has lost the will
to live, and so moves on. Then she, recovered, finds him, and he has a second
chance.
I don't feel like I know Neal Cassady from this film, but this episode from
his life had the feel or truth, and pointed out clearly how he was torn between
the white color suburban dream, and life on the road. The jazz score was a real
plus.
A full screen version of this film is cheaply available, but the widescreen
theatrical version is available from Rare Licensed DVDs. It is a Scandinavian
import, and has optional subtitles, but is English in the original theatrical
aspect ratio. As one of the strong points of the film is its look, the
widescreen presentation is a real plus.
This is a C+. It is a fine
film, but not for a large audience.
IMDb readers say 5.4. Critical response was not great.
Scoop's note: This decision would depend on how
much importance you place on seeing the film in the widescreen A/R. If that's what
you want, be prepared to pay for it. The SRP on the fullscreen version is
$12.98 and Amazon sells if for $11.99. RLDVDs is more than double that on the
widescreen version.
