James Franco (127 Hours) gives a bravura performance as the young Allen Ginsberg – poet and countercultural chronicler of the Beat Generation. In his famously confessional style, Ginsberg recounts the road trips, affairs and search for liberation that led to the most timeless work of his career, the poem Howl. In the obscenity trial that followed its publication, a San Francisco prosecutor (David Strathairn) argues for an outright ban, while the defense attorney (Mad Men’s Jon Hamm) makes the case for freedom of speech and creative expression. A portrait of a renegade artist breaking down barriers as well as a visually imaginative ride through a prophetic masterpiece that rocked a generation, Howl also features Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Treat Williams, and Bob Balaban as the trial’s staunchly conservative judge. (90 min.)