The Last Time I Committed Suicide

Plot synopsis:
Told from Neal Cassady's (Thomas Jane) perspective, in a form of a letter, the film follows his life before and after the suicide attempt by his longtime lover, Joan (Claire Forlani). Demonstrating Neal's active mind and ever changing thoughts, the film jumps back and forth between before and after the attempt.
The story begins the day of Joan's suicide attempt, with Neal sitting in the hall outside Joan’s hospital room. The story then jumps to the day before the suicide attempt, where a rain soaked Neal whisks Joan away from her job. They have an intimate night together. After, she sits on the bed, sad, but Neal keeps professing his love to her. The scene returns to the hospital room, silence between them. Neal is told he has to leave.
The story moves ahead, with Ben (Adrien Brody) visiting Neal. He asks Neal if he has been back to the hospital to which Neal replies no. It cuts ahead to Neal wide awake, drinking coffee and eating bread with Ben. In a manic state, Neal tells Ben about the story he wants to write.
Neal encounters his friend Harry (Keanu Reeves), who suggests the two of them pick up some girls and take them out on a road trip in a stolen car. They all drive out into the country, flying down the roads. Later, at Neal's job at a tire plant, Neal's friend Jerry finds Neal obviously high, and saves him from getting in trouble.
Eventually, Neal makes amends with Joan, and decides to settle down with her. On his way to pick up a suit for their wedding, he runs into a drunk Harry, who asks him to come in for a beer. Neal ends up drunk, and Harry convinces him to call Mary (Gretchen Mol), his teenaged ex-girlfriend. When Mary sneaks out of her house, her mother calls the police, who arrest Neal just as he is about to leave. He is allowed to make a phone call, but he doesn't know Joan's phone number. When Mary refuses to testify against Neal, the charges are dropped. The police nevertheless hold him on the false premise of suspicion of burglary. After spending a few days in jail, Neal is released. He goes to Joan's house, but finds it empty; he waits, but eventually it is obvious she isn’t coming back. He walks back down the porch, steals a car, and disappears.
Neal finishes writing the letter and places it in an envelope. Walking away, he throws the pages of his novel into the air, paper flying and landing everywhere.

Tags: romantic, flashback

Review:
Seeing that the whole movie is based on a letter from Neal Cassidy to Jack Kerouac, I reckon Stephen Kay did an excellent job of re-creating the essence that was Cassidy and his neer-do-well existence.You felt for Neal (played very well by Thomas Jane ).
He could almost taste the sweetness of a well balanced life - the honey at home the white picket fence the dog running around in the yard, but circumstance (his likings for the female of the species, penchant for stealing cars and his friendship with good 'ol HARRY [played brilliantly by KEANU REEVES]), just got in the way of true happiness.The supporting cast give good all round performances, especially  Claire Forlani as the girl of Cassidy's 'dreams'.This movie catches the 'beat' excellently with great visuals and a Class A soundtrack.Highly recommended..
The best thing about this movie is the opening scene, where Neal Cassady is doing more daydreaming and dancing then he is working on his writing.
The beginning of the movie screams to Cassady's life, and shows the audience a Marlon Brando type character that had strong ties with folks like, Allen Ginsberg and Jake Kerouac.
Cassady, a forgotten literary figure with more passion for creativity then progress in writing, would later become the character to drive the bus in Ken Kesey's, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
It is important to note, that while Cassady had only one decent literary publication, his zealous outlook on life was borrowed by some of the "great literary beat writers" in America.The Actor Keanu Reeves, who I have never been a huge fan of, does an excellent job of shedding light on Cassady's constant dissonance about leaving the life of a beat writer, for the life of a 9-5 working man with a stable house, beautiful wife, and loving family.The movie overall, is about this dissonance, is about the passion that Cassady had for both the creative life and the more stable environment of the family life.
Sadly, Cassady was unable to find balance between the two.Do not expect, watching this movie that it will touch your life with a "wow-effect" forever.
It is not some type of magical-beat-generation-movie that you can philosophize about for hours, it is just a pretty good movie.What you can keep with you forever, however, is the soundtrack to this movie, The Last Time I Committed Suicide.
This movie was amazing...Thomas Jane was terrific..Claire Forlani, Gretchen Mol..BUT..the one who stole the film...was KEANU REEVES..he should be VERY proud of the job he did in this film.
a very lovable one..This was a very overlooked film..that many people have not had the privilege to see...If you want to see Keanu Reeves ACT..see this film..Stephen Kay did a wonderful job..he captured the spirit of the time in the language and the cinematography..
This is an excellent film which really captures the feeling and atmosphere of the Beat Generation.
The film is based around a letter Neal Cassady (seen as Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's seminal 'On The Road') wrote to Jack Kerouac about his 16 year old girl friend Cherry Mary.
I won't go into anymore details as I think the less you know about a film before seeing it the better - but suffice to say that if you have any interest in the beat generation, or enjoyed any of Kerouacs books you'll like this film.
This little film shows excellent directing, cinematography and acting.
Thomas Jane BECOMES a young Neal Cassady, and displays one of the finer performances you'll ever see on film.
Admittedly, if you are interested in the legend of Neal Cassady this movie is going to be much more interesting to you.
The other Cassady-driven movie (unrelated to this cast and crew) - "Heart Beat" (1980) - hits you like a stale yellow lamp on a boring Sunday afternoon by comparison.
Kay made the kind of film that inspires filmmakers.The soundtrack - also becoming harder and harder to find - cannot be beat (It remained untouched from my CD player for months).
This film is a perfect evocation of Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and the times that they lived in.
The script by Stephen Kay is based on a letter that Neal Cassady wrote to Allen Ginsberg about an adventure he had with a girl called Cherry Mary.
Thomas Jane gives an outstanding performance as Neal, and Gretchen Mol is a scene-stealer as Cherry Mary.
The cast is rounded out with strong supporting turns by Claire Forlani, Keanu Reeves (surprise, surprise!), and Adrien Brody.
One of the most moving letters of our time, reflected on film....
When I first read this letter written by Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac, I was moved beyond words.
There are two amazing things about it: 1.) That this man had such an amazing talent for writing & 2.) That this man actually LIVED like that!I was curious to see what the movie would do to the letter (movies are rarely ever as good as the written form), and what I saw blew me away!
While I have noticed that the real Neal Cassady is more "jittery & wirey" (the man never sat still!), the actor Thomas Jane gave a remarkable performance as Neal!
Being a beat girl at heart, this has become my absolute favorite movie of all time..
To appreciate this film the viewer needs either to be in a jazzy, rebellious sort of mood, or have some interest in Neal Cassady, an American who figured heavily in the development of the "beat generation" of the 1950s.Set in the 1940s during one notable period of Cassady's life, the film is mostly a character study of Cassady (Thomas Jane), and his relationship with other people in his life, including his friend Harry (Keanu Reeves) and various romantic interests, the central one being Joan (Claire Forlani).But Cassady was a quirky kind of guy, a rebel, a nonconformist, fun loving, with a restless energy, a person constantly on the move, both physically and philosophically.
As presented in the film, he is a cross between James Dean and Jim Morrison.Cassady's offbeat personality is mirrored in the film's offbeat style.
Accordingly, a lot of viewers will find the film's unorthodox style off-putting.But I liked it, for the most part.
The plot would have been stronger if it had focused on Cassady's 1950s relationship with other historical figures, like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, instead of his romances with random women.
Otherwise, the cinematography, the music, and the performance of Thomas Jane are terrific..
Claire Forlani and Gretchen Mol give terrific performances.
"The Last Time I Committed Suicide" is an excellent description of live of a beatnick in the 50s.
Thomas Jane does a good performance in a quaint leading roll, but he is duly overshadowed by the young rising Godesses of Hollywood; namely Claire Forlani and Gretchen Mol.
This bunch of new talent has one advantage over Keanu Reeves, who takes on a minor part in this movie.
When we add the excellent choice of music we have a movie worthy a life at the top shelf..
That like Neal Cassady, I could just drop everything, hop into a stolen car, and ride away --- doesn't matter where, just away..
Kay does a wonderful job putting together this film taken from a letter.
If your looking for Keanu Reeves in a pretty boy film, this is not it.
I hope he continues to do independent films as he can really give to the characters that you cannot do with a big time director.
You have to see this film, if you've seen My Own Private Idaho, you will like this.
Keanu only has limited space in this film but is a key character just the same..
But i suppose they really had no choice seeing as how they were basing on a real letter that had been written adn a real person who actually existed, and im guessing actual events maybe.
One of the most surprising things in "The Last Time I Committed Suicide" is the whole part about Neal Cassady's thoughts about living the "ideal" American life (a nuclear family and a house surrounded by a white picket fence).
Cassady was one of the major people in the Beat generation, which rejected the "Leave It to Beaver" image of life.
If in fact Cassady thought about having this kind of life, then it goes to show his own conflicts, even beyond the main plot in this movie.But I digress.
I think that the movie did a good job looking at Neal Cassady (Thomas Jane).
Also starring Keanu Reeves, Marg Helgenberger and Gretchen Mol...and just take a look at that one scene of her!
Thomas Jane gives a star making turn as Neal Cassady,and he is backed up with a startlingly naturalistic and cozy turn byKeanu Reeves as his drunk buddy, Harry.
By God, Mr. Kaywas going to remind you every step of the way that he isDIRECTING this film and you are going to pay attention to that fact,come hell or high water.I mean, here we have a quiet intense drama about a charismaticman who inspired people like Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg,and the director uses every trick in "The MTV Bible of PseudoFilmography" to hide that fact and (supposedly) make it palatablefor the ADD generation.
You got your jump cuts and edits every .9seconds and odd angles and pretty inserts and on and on and onuntil I finally wanted to scream at the screen, "Take a F*****Gvalium!"  Drama has to unfold; it cannot be force fed down yourgullet because the man making the movie thinks you're too easilydistracted to give a damn about the characters.I've only seen one other movie where the director completelydestroyed a wonderful script -- "A Chorus of Disapproval"(although if "While You Were Sleeping" had had any other actressin the lead besides Sandra Bullock, it would also fit in this cursedcategory).So...if you like your drama spit out in food fight fashion, then this isthe movie for you.
But if you want anything approaching reality,check out something like "La Dolce Vita" by Federico Fellini, whohas more style in his right pinkie than in all of Stephen T.
I'm obsessed with this small literary movement so I was definitely interested in seeing this movie.
If you have any interest in the inspiration for Jack Keruoac's On the Road, you can probably overlook the Keanu thing.
If you never heard of Neal Cassidy and hate Keanu Reeves, see this for the two females in it, Gretchen Mol and Claire Forlani who are both excellent.
To clear up any misconceptions, it's based on the Cherry Mary letter to Kerouac(not Ginsberg) and the Reeves character isn't supposed to be Kerouac, he's supposed to be one of Cassady's old Denver pool hall buddies.
If you recall the beginning of the movie, Cassady is writing this story to Kerouac(it's the letter, get it?) why would he be telling Kerouac a story that Kerouac was such a big part of?
Even though the nameless guy from the letter that he represents wasn't Ginsberg, I think Kay took the opportunity of a blank-slate character to make a Ginsberg character(I base this on the attitude of the character, the obvious crush he has on Cassady, and the race car story that Cassady tells him which is a story Cassady told Ginsberg orally in reality that Ginsberg jotted down and that you can find in Cassady's book, The First Third), which is a great idea.
Except that Adrian Brody stands firmly as my least favorite Allen Ginsberg portrayal of all time.
What makes up for Adrian Brody's Ginsberg is Tom Jane's Cassady which is spot on.
Unlike Naked Lunch(Which I think anybody who likes a good movie can easily enjoy) I understand how anyone who doesn't know and like the Beats wouldn't really dig this movie.
However it was a lot of fun for me to watch and it will be the next time I watch it too.I don't know if anyone noticed, but in addition to all the lines taken from the letter it's based on, there was lines taken from other stuff Cassady wrote too!
Like I said, the race car story he tells Benjamin is a story he told Allen and there is the best line from one of my favorite Cassady/Ginsberg letters: "I see no greatness in myself--I even have no conception of what is greatness.
I am a simple-minded, child-like, insipid sort of moronic kind of awkward-feeling adolescent." which is not quoted directly in the movie, as it is in this here review, but it's in there!
Anyway, Stephen Kay clearly knows his stuff when it comes to these guys and I don't think the script lacked wit at all, I thought it was natural, especially considering how many of the lines were quotes, I think he mixed them pretty well into his own writing(Although I wouldn't say quite as well a Cronenberg did in Naked Lunch).
An interesting historical fiction of a real letter written from Neil Cassady to Jack Kerouac.
Almost like Macbeth, not the story, but how it drew a character.
The hero of the story, you know is in ways bad, but you feel for..
There is no story to speak of, Neal Cassady's life is pathetically boring, and the dialog is without any wit at all.
We follow Neal Cassady -- who is supposed to be 20 but looks 30 -- swap girlfriends and hangs out with some losers, including some totally unrecognizable Beat poets.The actors are doing their best but the script they are grappling with is empty.
It's pretty girls and pretty boys, and pretty boring.No wit, and, worst of all, no beat!Neal Cassady : a would-be James Dean without a cause and indeed without a rebellion!.
How can a film with a dream cast that includes Keanu Reeves, Adrien Brody, Marg Helgenberger, Gretchen Mol and Amy Smart go wrong?
You might begin to consider suicide yourself about half an hour in.Thomas Jane headlines the cast as Neal Cassady in this headache inducing film biog.
But he certainly gets no help from director Stephen Kay who seems more interested in showing off his camera tricks and technique than actually directing actors and making scenes work.When this film isn't painful, its a bore.
There is a reason you've never heard of "The Last Time I Committed Suicide".
Great representation of beat literary style.
Anyone who has actually read any of the beat narratives, in particular Kerouac and Cassady prose, would agree that the film comes as close to encapsulating the language and overall style onto film as possible.
One could argue that Neal Cassady himself was one of the more well known ADD characters of late fifties literature, if not all literature, with his penchant for the next free drink of booze, the next broad, jumping from stolen car to stolen car, even ditching his friends (in Mexico in On the Road) if the need arose.
While you may have problems with the narrative structure, those of us who are great beat literature enthusiasts recognize that the jump cut style of the narrative already existed and was brought to life in this film in a fantastic manner..
Seeing this film for the first time is like being introduced to that friend or lover you always dreamed about.
Neal Cassady, the hero of Jack Kerouac's On The Road and Visions Of Cody, comes to life on the screen, having the same effect as James Dean used to; as the old cliche goes:  women want him, men want to be him.
Taken from a letter Cassady wrote to good ol' Jack, the story meanders around the lives of Cassady, his pool hall boozer friend Harry, and his lovely but melancholy girlfriend Joan (played exquisitely by Claire Forlani, who is in my humble opinion one of the most beautiful and gifted people working in Hollywood today).
Stephen Kay follows Cassady and recreates a legend before our eyes.
The film delivers, and the spirit of the Beats once again is given a voice and, as it were, an image..
Like many movies nostalgic for a care-free past, this film maintains the notion that reckless abandon and a laissez-faire approach to living life is a viable option, a view that is expressed far too infrequently in today's society.
The film remains true to the letters that it is based on, and exemplifies the exuberant and excited writings of Neal Cassady.
I sat through this whole movie waiting for something, anything to make it worth watching, and nothing.
Basically this movie is about a guy who has no idea what he truly wants.
He thinks he wants a stable life with a wife, a kid, a house with a white picket fence.
Like most men he doesn't want to grow up nor does he know how.In the end he has accomplished nothing and neither has this movie!
Gretchen Mol. The only reason I rented this movie is because of Gretchen Mol. She gave a great performance as a 16 year old teenager in the 50s.
Overall the movie was kind of boring, due to lack of story.
I guess you can't develop much of a story from one letter.
The mood of the movie however is excellent.
I actually thought I might even enjoy it more if the whole movie is in black and white..
After seeing the film I felt sorry for the guy.
I also could not help wondering what made Reeves take part in the movie.
Did he want a day off or Stephen Kay was his best friend ?
In the meantime,  one thing will certainly keep you awake throughout this dim, unbalanced, one-letter-long movie : cinematography.
Some parts of this movie had beautiful cinematography but too much of it dragged along with mundane scenes and banter that were supposed to be exciting, I think.
It is so hard to capture the energy of Beat literature and this portrayal of Neal Cassady didn't.
But it wasn't a bad movie.