30/48

In 1950s Mexico City, an American immigrant in his forties lives a solitary life in a small American community. However, the arrival of a young student pushes the man to finally make a meaningful connection with someone.. Daniel Craig was ultimately the one who convinced Luca Guadagnino to cast Drew Starkey after watching Guadagnino’s audition tapes and telling him “That’s the guy” after seeing Starkey.. William Lee: Sit on your ass! Or what’s left of it after four years in the Navy. Featured on The Graham Norton Show: Daniel Craig/Nicola Coughlan/Jesse Eisenberg/Kieran Culkin/Flo (2024). I have never seen 'Naked Lunch' (1991), but I found myself thinking about it often during a screening of 'Queer' at the 2024 London Film Festival – probably to be expected, given that William S. Burroughs provided the source material for both films. Mexico, William Lee, an American writer on the wrong side of… forty? Fifty? He spends his days getting drunk, shooting up guns and having casual sex with other men. One day Eugene, a young, muscular, intelligent man, walks into the bar and Lee is smitten. But what does Eugene want anyway? Plus there’s that telepathic drug 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 block colours – dull reds and olive greens, for example – and have that vaguely unrealistic, clean Technicolor look that made me think they were trying to pay homage to films from the era in which the film is set. But if that’s the case, why the decidedly un-50s rock and techno soundtrack? Daniel Craig (is it my imagination or is he starting to sound like Sid James?) is hampered in the lead role by having to constantly spout nonsense in an accent that is clearly not his own. Drew Starkey is able to give a more subtle performance as the manipulative Eugene, and he certainly has the preppy look. Lesley Manville is unrecognizable as a doctor living in the South American jungle – kudos to the makeup team! This is the kind of movie that gets me because it’s more about art style than narrative substance. It was okay to watch it once, but I won’t watch it again.

NOVOCAINE 2025