Everyone in this movie along with its audience is a victim. Each character is portrayed as an innocent victim while they are all in fact part of the problem of their own lives. Courtney Love teases us for her entire performance. We try to connect with her as the victim mother and wife but she is partly to blame. Kiefer Sutherland does a terrible job portraying William S. Burroughs because he is not gay. An uphill battle, Sutherland had very little to go on since he had no connection to his character. Allen Ginsberg is in the movie just to be there. He literally goes along for the ride as he is a harmless victim in this story. Much like having Jack Kerouac show up for less than a minute, Ginsberg's part is just as pointless. My final grip I have with this movie is the portrayal of Lucien Carr. No matter what you believe, Lucien Carr was never a victim. Although he may have been victimized in his youth, he is in no way a protagonist or should be given any feeling in such. Carr used his circle of friends just as much as Burroughs, and nobody sees him as a victim.
Review of Beat
