Rating of
3/4
Weird Entertaining Art-house
Looneymanthegreat - wrote on 03/28/13
David Cronenberg has a strange affinity for books that are said to be “unfilmable.” Between this and his recent Cosmopolis, it seems unlikely that he has directed two book adaptations of this kind by accident.
Naked Lunch is a very interesting book, and I would definitely recommend to anyone seeing this movie to read the book first. Weather you read the book or the movie first is typically not a big deal. In fact I often get ticked by people who complain about how a movie is bad just because it’s not exactly like the book. Yet Naked Lunch is an exception I must make; trust me on this one.
The reason that you should read the book before seeing the movie? Simply put Naked Lunch isn’t really an adaptation of the book. It’s more a look a strange art-house look at the mind of a man who would write such a book. This movie is strange and unsettlingly weird for people who have not read the book, but for people who have read the book it is an interesting companion piece.
This is not a movie for everyone, nor is it even Cronenberg best film; not by a long shot. That said it’s a movie worth seeing for fans of the book and fans of Cronenberg alike.
