Over 30 y🧜ears in the making, the film of has seen off countless casts, directors and writers.

And it’s not hard to see why: Jack Kerouac’s iconic Beat generation text is a plot-less ramble across post-war America that defies 🌸adaptation, with a narrative almost as free-form as the jazz tunes that filter from the dive bars its author-hero (and Kerouac alter-ego) Sal Paradise frequents.

So Brazilia✱n director Walter Salles deserves credit simply for trying.

That he and screenwriter Josꦓé Rivera (who adapted for Salles) have managed to do it with such elegance 🅷is even more impressive.

Loyal to the spirit of Kerඣouac&rsqu🐟o;s book, there are times when this intoxicating brew burns across the screen with feverish passion, almost with the same fury that Paradise hammers away at his typewriter.

A s🧜tory of friendship and freedom, it begi🅰ns in 1947 when aspiring writer Sal (Sam Riley) meets the irrepressible Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund).

The model for Beat icon Neal Cassady, Dean is the sun who draws many into his orbit – wife Marylou (Krist꧒en Stewart), th﷽e Allen Ginsberg-like poet Carlo Marx (Tom Sturridge) and, later, Camille (Kirsten Dunst), who becomes his second wife (and must put up with his continual philandering with Marylou).

As De♉an and Sal criss-cross the continent, taking in Denver, San Frꦦancisco, Mexico and more, the texture and period detail are beautiful.

Like any road trip, there are stretches that can feel repetitive (there are only so many times you can watch them take Benzedrine) but there are also landm🐠arks to watch out for – from show-stopping ca💞meos (Amy Adams, Elisabeth Moss, Terrence Howard, Steve Buscemi) to stand-out scenes.

Anchoring it all, Riley invests real feeling as he narrate♔s Kerouac’s words, Stewart and Dunst commit like hell, and Hedlund tears up the screen with a free-wheeling performance that seems to embody Sall🍌es’ approach.

Viggo Mortensen&💙rsquo;s trigger-happy junkie O♐ld Bull Lee (aka William Burroughs) is another high.

Even if the film has a patchwork quality, Rivera’s script mines some much-needed humour from events – from Stewart giving new meaning to the phrase ‘two-hander’ to the priceless scene where Dean drive♏s Sal’s mother back to New York.

With its meandering narrative, it won’t appeal🌌🐎 to all. But this is a heartfelt work worth surrendering to.