40/40
In 1950s Mexico City, an American immigrant in his forties lives a lonely life in a small American community. But the arrival of a young student prompts the man to finally establish a meaningful relationship with someone. Daniel Craig eventually convinced Luca Guadagnino to play Drew Starkey after watching audition tapes with Guadagnino and telling him “That’s his boyfriend” after seeing Starkey… William Lee: Sit on your ass! Or what’s left of him after four years in the Navy. Featured on The Graham Norton Show: Daniel Craig / Nicola Coughlan / Jesse Eisenberg / Kieran Culkin / Flo (2024). I’ve never seen Southern Naked. (1991), but I often think about it in 2024. Queer screening at the London Film Festival: This was probably expected, since William Burroughs provided the source material for both films. 1950 Mexico, William Lee, an American writer on the wrong side of… forties? fifties? He spends his days drinking, shooting, and casually having sex with other men. One day, a muscular, intelligent young man, Eugene, walks into a bar and Lee is smitten. But what does Eugene want? He also has a telepathic drug to think about… I’m not sure what stylistic move director Luca Guadagnino is making with this film. The sets are decorated almost entirely in block colors – dull reds and olive greens, for example – and have that vaguely unrealistic, stripped-down Technicolor look that makes you think this is an 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 sound like Sid James?) is stuck in the lead role because he has to spout nonsense all the time. clearly not in his accent. Drew Starkey manages to deliver a more subtle performance as the manipulative Eugene and certainly looks ready. Leslie Manville is unrecognizable as a doctor living in the jungles of South America – great job by the makeup team! This is the kind of movie that, for me, feels more about the artistic style than the narrative material. It was nice to see it once, but I won’t watch it again.