NAKED LUNCH
A film review by Ken Johnson
Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson
120 min., R, Drama, 1991 Director: David Cronenberg Cast: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands, Roy Scheider, Monique Mercere, Nicholas Campbell, Robert A. Silverman
During 1950's in New York City bug exterminator Peter Weller gets introduced to injecting bug powder into himself by his wife Judy Davis. He gets addicted and starts hallucinating. He sees giant bugs which start controlling his life, as he sinks lower and lower.
I really can't recommend this film to anyone, because most people will hate this film. It is really bizarre and at some points it seems to be a pointless jumble of nothing. Other people will probably really like this film. I personally felt the film was okay, it wasn't the best film I have ever seen, but I thought that it was worth watching. On a scale of zero to five, I give NAKED LUNCH a three. NAKED LUNCH is rated R for explicit language and adult situations.
NAKED LUNCH is very bizarre, especially when Weller is under the influence of the bug powder, and I think that this turned a lot of people off on the film. The bugs were well created, especially the typewriter bug. I think that a lot of thought went into the design and it greatly improved the film. Peter Weller (ROBOCOP) put in a wonderful performance, along with the rest of the cast.
I think that the bugs were the best part of the film. As I mentioned earlier, they were really creative. I don't think that I have ever experienced a film like this one before. I got the feeling during the film that I was the one high on the powder and the movie was my hallucination (I know this isn't true because other film reviews on it have come out. Philosophy students might want to argue that this isn't proof, but it is to me.).
I haven't yet read the book NAKED LUNCH by William S. Burroughs, but I have heard it has little to do with the film. NAKED LUNCH is now out on video, but I would suggest that if the film sounds interesting to you that you seek out an art theater that is still playing it. I saw the film at my local art theater, and after thinking about it, I feel that a lot of the impact of the film has will be lost on video cassette. If the film doesn't sound interesting to you, I would suggest that you don't bother to see it, even off video cassette, because you probably wouldn't like it.
Ken J. blj@mithrandir.cs.unh.edu
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