Queer

I really didn't care for this adaptation of the William S. Burroughs semi-autobiographical book, a cornucopia of quasi-spy intrigue and drug-addled lust.

I’m down with straight mainstream stars playing LGBTQ characters in movies, but not boring ones.

And that’s exactly what “Queer” is, starring former James Bondsman Daniel Craig in an adaptation of William S. Burrough’s semi-autobiographical book about his years spent in Mexico in the 1950s.

The story can basically be broken into two halves: the first in which he spends an hour pathetically lusting after a much younger fellow American, a cornucopia of drugs and quasi-spy story intrigue. In the second, he and his reluctant lover travel deep into the jungle in search of a mysterious plant that supposedly can grant the power of telepathy.

I’ve been very up and down on director Luca Guadagnino’s work. I thought the similarly themed “Call Me By Your Name” an overlong, overhyped piece of mush, and was not terribly impressed by his other film this year, the romantic tennis triangle “Challengers.” But I dug “Bones and All.”

Justin Kuritzkes, who also worked with Guadagnino on “Challengers,” supplies the screenplay adaptation.

Craig plays William Lee — a pseudonym of Burroughs’ — a washed-up writer living in Mexico City. There appear to be a lot of former American soldiers and spies about, and many of them talk as if they’re still in the covert ops game. William carries a revolver to play up this image, and doesn’t do much writing that we can see. In fact, his entire existence seems to be going from bar to bar, drinking and smoking, and doing heroin in the dark corners of the city.

Drew Starkey plays the object of his affection, Eugene Allerton, who would seem to be a journalist but is also passing himself of as some sort of spy. He’s tall, young, lanky and wears wire-rim glasses like William’s. He would also seem to be entirely straight, spending much of his time with one of the few women in William’s social circle.

William’s pursuit of Eugene is hardly romantic, but turgid and even downright creepy. He lures Eugene to his place with promises of booze and drugs, and slides up on him like an alligator cruising in for a snack.

One of my big problems with the movie is Eugene never seems to reveal much of his true character. He eventually gives in to William’s overtures, almost out of sheer boredom. It’s possible he’s playing the older man rather than the reverse. William proposes an extended excursion down south in search of yage, a fruit that supposedly can open up his mind even more than smack.

They eventually make their way to the hut of Dr. Cotter (Lesley Manville), an outcast American scientist who is deeply suspicious of these two interlopers. Eventually some jungle-juice is procured, leading to a very long and very predictable mind trip sequence.

Rather than tackling a truly interesting character, Craig feels like he’s slumming in a gay arty flick. His performance is largely defined by William’s insatiable neediness — for drugs, for attention, for sex with other men. But only if they’re young and hot. He conspicuously eschews any such escapades with a fellow bar crawler named Joe (Jason Schwartzman), who’s short and tubby.

There’s a lot of sex and nudity in “Queer,” and I couldn’t help noticing that for a guy who never exercises or even seems to eat, William has the ripped body of an Olympic athlete (or super-spy). I don’t know about you, but I haven’t met too many strung-out wastrels with six-packs.

This is sweaty, slippery mess of a movie. The cinematography (by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom) is really the only thing to recommend. But a great-looking picture about unredeemed human rottenness is still just that.