Magic Trip

This revelatory documentary from filmmakers Alex Gibney and Alison Ellwood chronicles the legendary 1964 road trip from California to New York undertaken by author Ken Kesey and his LSD-loving cohorts, the “Merry Pranksters,” in a psychedelically painted bus driven by Neal Cassady, who was Jack Kerouac's inspiration for On the Road. The ostensible goals were to visit the World's Fair in New York and meet Timothy Leary, Kerouac, and the East Coast Beats, but the journey itself became more of the point, and it's enshrined here as the true dawn of the 1960s era of hippie “happenings” via excerpts from hours of 16mm home-movie footage and sound taped en route by Kesey and his crew. Made in association with Kesey's family, this assemblage of the original rare celluloid/audio material is supplemented with contemporary and archival interviews and a brief re-enactment of Kesey's participation in a 1959 government study of LSD, along with sparse narration from actor Stanley Tucci. The film serves as a brief bio of Kesey, with the author (best known for his novels One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Sometimes a Great Notion), hallucinogen enthusiast, and family man portrayed as a calm center in the dawning Aquarian Age, especially compared to the appealingly manic but rootless Cassady, who would die soon afterwards. Bringing to life a cultural milestone, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)