Howl

James Franco stars as the young Allen Ginsberg poet, counter-culture adventurer and chronicler of the Beat Generation. In his famously confessional, leave-nothing-out style, Ginsberg recounts the road trips, love affairs and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless and electrifying work of his career, the poem HOWL. Meanwhile, in a San Francisco courtroom, HOWL is on trial. Prosecutor Ralph McIntosh (Strathairn) sets out to prove that the book should be banned, while suave defense attorney Jake Ehrlich (Hamm) argues fervently for freedom of speech and creative expression. The proceedings veer from the comically absurd to the passionate as a host of unusual witnesses (Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Treat Williams, Alesssandro Nivola) pit generation against generation and art against fear in front of conservative Judge Clayton Horn (Bob Balaban). HOWL is simultaneously a portrait of a renegade artist breaking down barriers to find love and redemption and an imaginative ride through a prophetic masterpiece that rocked a generation and was heard around the world. Directed by Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman. Starring James Franco, David Strathairn, Jon Hamm.

Director: Jeffrey Friedman
Director: Robert Epstein
Producer: Christine Kunewa Walker
Producer: Christine Walker
Producer: Elizabeth Redleaf
Producer: Jeffrey Friedman
Producer: Robert Epstein
Actor: James Franco
Actor: David Strathairn
Actor: Jon Hamm
Actor: Bob Balaban
Actor: Jeff Daniels
Actor: Mary-Louise Parker
Actor: Paul Rudd
Actor: Aaron Tveit
Actor: Todd Rotondi
Actor: Treat Williams
Actor: Alessandro Nivola
Actor: Jon Prescott