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Naked Lunch (1991)
Director: David Cronenberg
Writers: William S. Burroughs (novel), David Cronenberg
Cast: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm
A bug exterminator in the 1950s becomes addicted to his bug spray, he hallucinates and has a wild adventure as a secret agent writing a report on alien-bug activity at a mysterious port in Africa.
If the subject matter wasn't so dark, this would be a fun kids movie, like Mars Attacks!...but instead we get a story that is ridiculously wacky with cheesy looking aliens-bugs. I wanted to shut this off in the first half hour but I hoped it would get better, it never did. The notion of a poor, bug exterminator getting hooked on his bug spray and using it like a narcotic with hallucinations, could have been a clever, fresh idea. But thanks to an overly wacky script written by David Cronenberg, we get a story that waste the talents of Peter Weller by going way over the top to zaniness.
I actually did like the scenes of Weller's talking alien-bug typewriter. That was the best part of the film as the typewriter serves as a narrator and Weller's subconscious too, giving him a chance to interact with himself. Had the script backed off a bit from the extreme hallucination scenes, it might have worked. There's an adage, 'less is more'. This is more, much more.
The sets look great and are fascinating to see. They really give an illusion of a different reality. The art direction uses a rich pallet of warm colors, it's eye popping and that fits the mood of the film.
Even the direction is excellent with one biting exception....the director choice to use close ups of the alien-bug, holding the shots for a long time so that the viewer can easily see the alien is just a cheesy prop. Less would have been more here too.
If you want to see a film of this style by Cronenberg that actually works, watch Videodrome.
Naked Lunch, (the movie, not the novel) reminds me of something Hunter S Thompson might have done, only he would have done it up right. I'm giving high marks to Peter Weller who's always great in his films. And to the sets, art direction, editing, scoring and even directing.
Naked Lunch (1991)
Director: David Cronenberg
Writers: William S. Burroughs (novel), David Cronenberg
Cast: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm
A bug exterminator in the 1950s becomes addicted to his bug spray, he hallucinates and has a wild adventure as a secret agent writing a report on alien-bug activity at a mysterious port in Africa.
If the subject matter wasn't so dark, this would be a fun kids movie, like Mars Attacks!...but instead we get a story that is ridiculously wacky with cheesy looking aliens-bugs. I wanted to shut this off in the first half hour but I hoped it would get better, it never did. The notion of a poor, bug exterminator getting hooked on his bug spray and using it like a narcotic with hallucinations, could have been a clever, fresh idea. But thanks to an overly wacky script written by David Cronenberg, we get a story that waste the talents of Peter Weller by going way over the top to zaniness.
I actually did like the scenes of Weller's talking alien-bug typewriter. That was the best part of the film as the typewriter serves as a narrator and Weller's subconscious too, giving him a chance to interact with himself. Had the script backed off a bit from the extreme hallucination scenes, it might have worked. There's an adage, 'less is more'. This is more, much more.
The sets look great and are fascinating to see. They really give an illusion of a different reality. The art direction uses a rich pallet of warm colors, it's eye popping and that fits the mood of the film.
Even the direction is excellent with one biting exception....the director choice to use close ups of the alien-bug, holding the shots for a long time so that the viewer can easily see the alien is just a cheesy prop. Less would have been more here too.
If you want to see a film of this style by Cronenberg that actually works, watch Videodrome.
Naked Lunch, (the movie, not the novel) reminds me of something Hunter S Thompson might have done, only he would have done it up right. I'm giving high marks to Peter Weller who's always great in his films. And to the sets, art direction, editing, scoring and even directing.