40/35
In 1950s Mexico City, an American immigrant in his forties lives a lonely life in a small American community. However, the arrival of a young college student prompts the man to form a meaningful bond with someone. Ultimately, it was Daniel Craig who convinced Luca Guadagnino to cast Drew Starkey after watching Guadagnino’s audition tapes and telling him, “That’s the guy,” after watching Starkey. William Lee: Sit on your ass! Or what’s left of it after four years in the Navy. Starring in The Graham Norton Show: Daniel Craig/Nicola Coughlan/Jesse Eisenberg/Kieran Culkin/Flo (2024). I’ve never seen Naked Lunch (1991), but I often thought about it during a screening of Queer at the London Film Festival in 2024: probably to be expected, since William S. Burroughs provided the source material for both films. In 1950s Mexico, William Lee, an American writer on the wrong side of… forties? Fifty? Spends his days getting drunk, injecting drugs, and having sex with other men. One day, a muscular, intelligent young hunk named Eugene walks into a bar, and Lee is smitten. But what does Eugene want? And then there’s that telepathic drug, which you have to think about… I’m not sure what director Luca Guadagnino is trying to achieve stylistically with this film. The sets are decorated almost exclusively in solid colors – dull reds and olive greens, for example – and have this vaguely unrealistic, clean, colorful look that made me think the intention was to pay homage to the films of the era in which the film is set. But if that’s the case, why is the soundtrack decidedly not ’50s rock and techno? Daniel Craig (is it my imagination or is he starting to look like Sid James?) is hamstrung in the lead role as he is constantly forced to deliver meaningless speeches in an accent that is clearly not his. Drew Starkey is capable of a more subtle performance as the manipulative Eugene and certainly looks the part. Lesley Manville is unrecognizable as a doctor living in the South American jungle – kudos to the make-up team! This is the kind of film that strikes me as more artistic than storytelling. It was watchable once, but I won’t be watching it again.