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Movies / On DVD / Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch

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Naked Lunch (1991)

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Reviews Counted:30

Fresh:20

Rotten:10

Average Rating:6.8/10

Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: The dry wit of writer William S. Burroughs transfers surprisingly well to the screen. This partially biographical celluloid interpretation of his book shows Burroughs's daring and delirium as one... The dry wit of writer William S. Burroughs transfers surprisingly well to the screen. This partially biographical celluloid interpretation of his book shows Burroughs's daring and delirium as one of the experimental beat writers (with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg) who emerged in the late 1950s. In the lead role, Peter Weller does a dead-on Burroughs impression, and the film follows a bizarre logic and has a dark, rich look that makes it one of director David Cronenberg's more satisfying works. Bill Lee (Weller) is a pest-control man who would rather be a writer, and he is seeking escape from his troubled existence. After killing his wife, he flees to Interzone, a hallucinatory version of Tangiers (the location where Burroughs penned the book). There he finds that reality and fantasy have merged in a strange, surreal landscape inhabited by half-alien, half-insect creatures and odd humans. And finally, in this altered state, Lee can become a writer. Like other Cronenberg films, NAKED LUNCH is a bit squishy; it is full of pervasive biological dread. And this film is not exactly faithful to the novel. Instead, Cronenberg provides it with a neat framework that begins and ends with Lee shooting his wife Joan (Judy Davis) during a botched William Tell routine, just as Burroughs did in real life. [More]

Starring: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Julian Sands, Roy Scheider

Starring: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Julian Sands, Roy Scheider

Director: David Cronenberg

Director: David Cronenberg
Screenwriter: David Cronenberg
Producer: Jeremy Thomas
Composer: Howard Shore

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Nov 11, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Naked Lunch

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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...very nearly accomplishes the book's goal of "extinguishing all rational thought."

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
07/18/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
03/31/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
03/19/08
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...a respectful fugue on Burroughs' life and art, not an attempt at cinema-izing that most unfilmable of books.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
09/05/07
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

This is the only film in which a typewriter beetle kills another typewriter beetle for being a secret agent. I mention it only because of the relevance of the written word, and typewriters %u2013 portable ones in this case %u2013 are the medium of the mes

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
05/05/07
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Given that nobody could really have adapted Burroughs' book in any literal manner, what Cronenberg does instead is predictably creepy, warped and dreamy.

comment Comment
09/08/05
Dan Fienberg
Dan Fienberg
Zap2it.com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/12/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
02/27/05
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

No review available.

comment Comment
11/23/04
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

No review available.

comment Comment
05/28/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
03/22/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

No review available.

comment Comment
01/22/04
Randy Shulman
Randy Shulman
Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

Stands on its own apart from the book.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/18/04
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

There are no great scenes, just flat moments of weirdness with lots of schlorping noises.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
01/05/04
Mark Robison
Mark Robison
Reno Gazette-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
11/04/03
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
08/21/03
John Esther
John Esther
Pasadena Weekly

One of Cronenberg's most difficult but deliriously clever and emotionally insinuating films.

comment Comment
08/15/03
Nick Davis
Nick Davis
Nick's Flick Picks

Cronenberg's overly-ambitious attempt at filming the unfilmable.

comment Comment
07/10/03
Greg Muskewitz
Greg Muskewitz
eFilmCritic.com
 
 
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Latest News for Naked Lunch

September 29, 2005: Critical Consensus: "Blue" Sinks, "Violence" Kills, "Serenity" Soars
This week at the movies, we have sexy divers ("Into the Blue"), secretive family men ("A History of Violence"), space renegades ("Serenity"),... More...

May 17, 2005: Trailer Bulletin: "A History of Violence"
Thanks to the official Cannes Film Festival website for posting the all-new trailer for David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence." The New Line Cinema release, which... More...

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