For anyone interested in author Ken Kesey’s drug riddled years, Magic Trip is an absolute must see. Academy-award winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and Allison Ellwood were entrusted with the footage Kesey and his merry band of pranksters shot during their 1964 driving voyage from California to New York to see the World’s Fair. Kesey’s intent was to make a documentary about their journey aboard Further, the psychedelic-colored school bus, but they encountered technical problems and it was never completed, well, until now. Very much like a narrated home movie, the film rambles and roams while trying to capture the essence of the time and the revolutionary and patriotic spirit of its subjects. A vivid and animated time capsule, Magic Trip is best viewed with an open and curious mind.

Magic Trip is a Magnolia Pictures release.

(Originally appeared on Flavorpill.com in August 2011.)