The seventy-plus minute Beat is nothing worth praising, period. The low-budget feature is unbearable, thanks to its sluggish script. How it got greenlighted is a mystery to me.

The film begins with a brief prologue of 1944, na by Allen Ginsburg (Ron Livingston), about how aspiring writer Lucien Carr (Norman Reedus) brought five people together, including William Burroughs (Kiefer Sutherland). Their literary clique is severed by a and Burroughs marries and leaves town. Seven years later, Burroughs, his wife Joan (Courtney Love), and their children live in the slums of Mexico City, barely surviving on William's income. Stumped with writing, William has no qualms in leaving his family for a tryst in Guatemala with his young male lover.

Just as William leaves, Lucien and Allen arrive for a visit to a bored and boozy Joan. Chatting with bar patrons, Lucien figures Joan needs an escape from her boredom. The trio embark on a road trip to some desolate village ravaged by a volcano. Instead of a volcano erupting, passion ignites between Joan and Lucien. As soon as the trip ends, Joan must decide over two options: stay in Mexico or return to New York City.

Beat tries so hard to be serious, but the finished product is anything but serious. Most of the characters are, as one character puts it, "psychic vampires," sucking the life out of one another. Joan is miserable because of

William, though she feels "disgustingly loyal" to him. Allen is upset for Joan; then it's William and his moody lover; then it's Lucien and Joan; and, in an all-too-brief flashback, Lucien and Dave (Kyle Secor). As the saying goes, misery sure does love company.

Never mind the weak performances-the cast did what they could with the harebrained script. The setting is okay, especially the luscious shots of the countryside. Ernest Troost's musical score achieves the redominantly

melancholic mood of the film. It's just director Gary Walkow's screenplay that is problematic. More could have been done in making this a better movie. The odd beginning is too terse. The principal characters are less empathic and more annoying, which is a shame considering this is based on real individuals. Beat truly didn't beat the ennui and isn't worth a look.