X
  • 2010
  • R
  • Oscilloscope
  • 1 h 24 m
  • 2010
  • R
  • Oscilloscope
  • 1 h 24 m

Summary James Franco stars as the young Allen Ginsberg poet, counter-culture adventurer and chronicler of the Beat Generation. In his famously confessional, leave-nothing-out style, Ginsberg recounts the road trips, love affairs and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless and electrifying work of his career, the poem HOWL. M...

Directed By: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman

Written By: Allen Ginsberg, Jeffrey Friedman, Rob Epstein

  • 2010
  • R
  • Oscilloscope
  • 1 h 24 m
  • 2010
  • R
  • Oscilloscope
  • 1 h 24 m

Howl

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 24 Critic Reviews
63
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 24 User Ratings
6.7
My Score
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Where to Watch

Summary James Franco stars as the young Allen Ginsberg poet, counter-culture adventurer and chronicler of the Beat Generation. In his famously confessional, leave-nothing-out style, Ginsberg recounts the road trips, love affairs and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless and electrifying work of his career, the poem HOWL. M...

Directed By: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman

Written By: Allen Ginsberg, Jeffrey Friedman, Rob Epstein

Where to Watch

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 24 Critic Reviews
63
71% Positive
17 Reviews
29% Mixed
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 24 Critic Reviews
63
71% Positive
17 Reviews
29% Mixed
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
80
Oct 21, 2010
This film is a wonderful act of imagination on its own.
By Richard Nilsen FULL REVIEW
75
One of the qualities I like about this film is that the writer-directors, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, are aware of the time when Beat scene was new.
By Roger Ebert FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 24 User Ratings
6.7
50% Positive
12 Ratings
42% Mixed
10 Ratings
8% Negative
2 Ratings

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 24 User Ratings
6.7
50% Positive
12 Ratings
42% Mixed
10 Ratings
8% Negative
2 Ratings

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
10
AlexS
Aug 27, 2011
Powerfully acted and visually appealing.James Franco is spot on as Allen **** interesting way to convey the poem and the man.Howl feels like a documentary and has the soul of a very personal project.
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10
mediaman23
Feb 26, 2011
What a surprise - a thoughtful, creative and very enjoyable film that even a guy with a limited interest in poetry enjoyed. Yet another example of first-rate talent working outside "the system" and with limited funding yet delivering high quality film-making (Kids are Alright, I Love you Phillip Morris, Crazy Heart). One would never think of James Franco as Allen Ginsberg, talk about taking poetic license, but to me this all worked. The animation of poetry was a terrific plus. Try it!
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70
The film of Howl, like its source material, is undeniably brave, committed and inventive.
By Michael Ordoña FULL REVIEW
70
What's cinematic experimentation without a few failures in the lab? Maybe that's why Howl is so appealing: The filmmakers don't get everything right but their passion for Ginsberg's genius and their excitement over trying to deconstruction a literary master work is contagious.
By Kirk Honeycutt FULL REVIEW
63
It's well-crafted, but I wish the film showed us an additional dimension or two of the central figure, who once said the great challenge in writing, any kind of writing, is "to write the same way you are."
By Michael Phillips FULL REVIEW
50
Well intentioned on every level, the movie is successful only on some, and it falls flat when trying to visualize the innards of the poem itself.
By Ty Burr FULL REVIEW
40
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's mostly whiffed docudrama makes the influential poem by Allen Ginsberg (Franco) seem dull, ordinary, pedestrian instead of pioneering.
By Keith Uhlich FULL REVIEW
See All 24 Critic Reviews
10
superman11
Jan 9, 2011
howls movie shows the poets life in intriguing mysteries makes you wonder where are all the poets now overall the movie was a bit lackey in some parts but the imagination in the animation makes realize there is life out there 7/10
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4
TVJerry
Nov 20, 2010
This is not a biopic about poet Alan Ginsberg, but a cinematic interpretation of the titular poem that caused a stir in the art and legal community. It unfolds in several scenarios: Ginsberg (James Franco) reads the poem to a coffee house crowd, the poem is illustrated through animation, he talks to Time magazine (an interview that was never published), there are highlights from the court case that tried the poem as obscenity and a few glimpses into his relationships. If you're not looking for a straight narrative and appreciate artistic cinema, you might like this.
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Details

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Production Company Werc Werk Works, Telling Pictures, RabbitBandini Productions, Radiant Cool
Release Date Sep 24, 2010
Duration 1 h 24 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline The Obscenity Trial That Started a Revolution. The Poem That Rocked a Generation.
Website http://howlthemovie.com/
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Awards

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics
• 2 Nominations
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Central Ohio Film Critics Association
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

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