Naked Lunch

The book, to some, is unreadable and was almost declared obscene. The idea that anyone could – or would – make a movie from it was unthinkable. Yet somehow when the author, William S. Burroughs, and the director, David Cronenberg, put their minds together, magic happened. What’s the movie about, you ask? Ah, there’s the rub. On the surface, it’s the story of a low-level exterminator who becomes addicted to the powder he uses to kill cockroaches. It’s weird, a bit stomach-churning and, if you enjoy very black comedy, wildly hilarious. Scratch the surface, however, and you find a trippy exploration of the creative process and how certain illicit substances, when consumed in mass quantities, can open the door to thoughts and feelings that creative people need to make art. Peter Weller gives an hypnotic performance as the exterminator, serving as the perfect guide to the hallucinatory world of Burroughs’ novel.  Judy Davis is equally compelling playing the dual roles of the exterminator’s wife and, once the wife is out of his life, his mistress/muse.