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Created Jan 07, 2012 08:17PM PST • Edited Jan 07, 2012 08:17PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   OK 2.5

   Stanley Tucci narrates this look at the famous Ken Keasey and the Merry Pranksters trip across the US. The trip itself was exactly that — a long strange trip. Looking at it from the outside, I don’t know whether to label it as something meaningful and defining for the 60’s, or just a bunch of kids partying and having a good time. You be the judge. It sure was fascinating to watch though. There was a bit more than the trip itself, as some of the other events of the times are discussed, most notably the acid tests in the SF bay area. In the end, I felt a bit exhausted – how could they have dropped so much acid? And I completely understood why some of them, including Keasey himself, were ready to move on. As for the movie, it was a bit meandering and even boring at times — probably the same thing that would happen if I were sitting and watching people on acid in real-life.

4. Acting

   OK 2.5

   Ok – so this is purely a judgement call; but I come down on the side of folks who thinks these are just a bunch of partying kids. Timothy Leary’s crew did all the thinking. Keasey’s crew just wandered.

5. Male Stars OK 2.5

6. Female Stars OK 2.5

7. Female Costars OK 2.5

8. Male Costars OK 2.5

10. Film

    Barely OK 2.0

    Apparently the footage took years to get in to shape; with an audio track that got out of sync. with the visual. They cleaned it up, but it still came across as a bunch of home movies. Oh wait, they were all tripping when they filmed. That explains it.

11. Direction Barely OK 2.0

12. Play Barely OK 2.0

13. Music Barely OK 2.0

14. Visuals Barely OK 2.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 2.0

17. Sex Titillating 2.0

18. Violence Fierce 2.0

19. Rudeness Salty 2.0

21. Reality

    Natural 1.0

    Now this is a rating dilemma to be sure. This all actually happened, so I guess a ‘Natural’ rating is correct. However, what was going on in Keasey and crew’s minds, was totally supernatural.

22. Circumstantial Natural 1.0

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0