Documentarists Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (The Celluloid Closet, Common Threads, et al.) try their hands at narrative film, or docudrama, or maybe just simulated documentary, showing little storytelling sense. The central action, if one can be pinpointed, is the 1957 obscenity trial of the publisher of Allen Ginsberg’s titular poem, drawing upon actual court transcripts. For the rest, there are lengthy recitations of the poem, at a black-and-white public reading or else illustrated with surrealist animation, and there’s a staged interview with the poet in his own words (James Franco, adopting an alien rhythm of speech, dragging, accelerating, lurching). The overall impression is that the film, at barely over an hour and a quarter, runs a bit short of material. David Strathairn, Jon Hamm, Bob Balaban, Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Treat Williams. (2010) — Duncan Shepherd
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