Howl
Oscilloscope Pictures | Release Date: September 24, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Arizona RepublicRichard NilsenOct 21, 2010
This film is a wonderful act of imagination on its own. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Not quite a biopic, not really a documentary and only loosely an adaptation, Howl does something that sounds simple until you consider how rarely it occurs in films of any kind. It takes a familiar, celebrated piece of writing and makes it come alive. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayOct 28, 2010
Howl mixes a number of story lines and aesthetic approaches: We get glimpses of Ginsberg's early days as a poet, including his relationships with Kerouac and Neal Cassady, as well as a depiction of the trial, where a parade of critics and professors pronounced Ginsberg's creation either a work of genius or irredeemable filth. Read full review
75
NPRScott Tobias
Epstein and Friedman's doc-like approach also results in a certain dramatic stasis; Howl is a film aimed more for the head than the gut. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
This multi-pronged labor of love doesn't always work, but it often does, sometimes in ways that take your breath away. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
The language of that poem, which periodically pours out from the screen, is the best thing in the movie. The worst thing: the interpolated animated sequences that are meant to "illustrate" the poem but which can't begin to compete with the imagery evoked by Ginsberg's words. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The trouble with the film is that it often feels too respectable for its own good, preserving the facts of yesterday's rebellion while leaving it firmly in the past. Happily, Ginsberg's words still cut recklessly through the years. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
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. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The result, though clearly flawed, is passionate and ambitious, celebrating that long-gone era when a book of verse could spark a revolution in consciousness. Read full review
70
MovielineMichelle Orange
The result is more fancy than funky, but the directors' aim is true and occasionally hits its mark. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
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. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Intelligent and highly respectful of its central character and his titular landmark poem, HOWL is an admirable if fundamentally academic exploration of the origins, impact, meaning and legacy of Allen Ginsberg's signal work. Read full review
70
SlateDana Stevens
By the time this movie's over, you've spent an hour and a half just working your way through the words of Howl and some related source material, and that turns out to be a surprisingly satisfying thing to do. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMichael Ordoña
The film of Howl, like its source material, is undeniably brave, committed and inventive. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Franco is rather astounding, looking and sounding plausibly like Ginsberg and talking about complex ideas in a genuinely relaxed tone. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
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." Read full review
63
ObserverRex Reed
I found Howl a fascinating and imaginative evocation of mid-20th-century liberation, a mere and merciful 90 minutes long. Read full review
60
EmpireAdam SmithFeb 21, 2011
With a frustrating format and poor animation, it's still worth it for Franco and the chance to engage with a key work of poetry. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
A movie with no clear narrative. It pushes boundaries and feels like one man's fever dream. But all those traits would certainly make Allen Ginsberg happy. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Basically, Epstein and Friedman are feel-good filmmakers-their Ginsberg has one of the shortest, most successful bouts of psychotherapy in history. But is it really necessary to affirm the poem's ecstatic footnote ("Holy! Holy! Holy!") with a montage of smiling reaction shots? Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
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. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A very mixed bag. It's an oddly dry fusion of documentary and narrative film that arguably doesn't quite click on either level. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The result is a film of passion and ambition, but one whose success is intermittent at best. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith Uhlich
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's mostly whiffed docudrama makes the influential poem by Allen Ginsberg (Franco) seem dull, ordinary, pedestrian instead of pioneering. Read full review
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