Lovely Sorts of Death

Before Jack Nicholson was Hollywood's Jack Nicholson, he was just another struggling actor/writer with a failed marriage and an interest in the nascent drug culture. So he did what any good writer does, and he wrote what he knew. The resulting screenplay, The Trip, was produced and directed by long-time colleague Roger Corman, and starred Peter Fonda as Paul Groves, a man with a crumbling marriage and a strong interest in LSD's healing properties. Fortunately, Paul's friend John (Bruce Dern) is a guru and LSD advocate who agrees to act as his guide on his first trip. What follows is a full-on freakout as Paul experiences visions of death and destruction, as well as moments of great beauty, set to the music of the Electric Flag. Neither anti- nor pro-drug, The Trip suggests that dropping acid is a personal choice best left to the individual — ah, the '60s. The Trip screens at 8 p.m. at the Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue; 314-968-7487 or www.webster.edu/filmseries) under the auspices of the Webster Film Series. Admission is $4.
Wed., July 7, 2010