21/42
In 1950s Mexico City, an American immigrant in his late forties lives as a loner in a small American community. However, the arrival of a new student encourages the man to finally make a meaningful connection with someone. Ultimately, it was Daniel Craig who convinced Luca Guadagnino to cast Drew Starkey after he watched the audition tapes with Guadagnino and told him "That's the guy" upon seeing Starkey’s… William Lee: Sit on Your Ass! Or What’s Left of It After Four Years in the Navy. Starring on The Graham Norton Show: Daniel Craig/Nicola Collen/Jesse Eisenberg/Kieran Culkin/Flo (2024). I’ve Never Seen 'Full Lunch' (1991), but I found myself thinking about it often during the screening of Queer at the 2024 London Film Festival: perhaps it was to be expected, as William S Burroughs provided the source material for both films. In 1950s Mexico, William Lee, an American writer from… the wrong side of forty? Fifty? Spends his days getting drunk, shooting, and having casual sex with other men. One day, a muscular, smart young guy walks into a bar, and Lee is smitten. But what does Eugene himself want? Then there’s the telepathic drug… I’m not sure what director Luca Guadagnino is trying to achieve stylistically with this film. The sets are decorated almost exclusively in block colors – dull reds and olive greens, for example – and have a vaguely unrealistic, clean Technicolor look that makes me think the intention is to pay homage to the films of the era in which the film is set. But if that’s the case, why the decidedly 1950s rock and techno soundtrack? Daniel Craig (is it my imagination or is he starting to look like Sid James?) is a stunner in the lead role, constantly having to come up with nonsense. with an accent that’s clearly not his own. Drew Starkey manages to give a more nuanced performance as the manipulative Eugene, and certainly looks the part. Leslie Manville is unrecognizable as the doctor who lives in the South American jungle – good job to the makeup team! This is the kind of film that seems to me more about artistic style than story. It was good to see once, but I won’t watch it again.
