Mubi Monday: Queer (2024)

I have some big problems with Queer, and writing this review may help me to figure out if the problems stem from myself or from director Luca Guadagnino and writer Justin Kuritzkes. Actually, it may be the fault of William S. Burroughs, who seems to have filtered elements of his life through his books in ways that become repetitive and self-cannibalising.

Daniel Craig plays William Lee, a slightly older American man who now lives in Mexico City and spends a lot of his time trawling bars for younger men he might enjoy some nights of sexual activity with. I have deliberately used the word "trawling" there because Lee is a man very much casting a wide net in order to catch the occasional prize specimen. He believes that he has found a winner in Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), the two of them ending up in a relationship that allows them to explore their bodies, take some drugs together that may help them explore their own minds and souls, and generally develop different kinds of dependence.

Hot and sweaty, and often soaked in booze, this is the kind of film that emanates a heat you can feel coming off the screen. Whether sitting in the humid bars or being naked and hungry in bed, the main characters always seem to be coated in a sheen of perspiration. This is what the film does well, conveying that sense of heat (both external and internal), and the feeling of someone moving through it with only occasional moments of real connection that distract them from their own repeating cycle of numbing alcohol and sometimes-equally-numbing sex.

Craig and Starkey are both very good in their roles, with the former managing to deliver an accent that he keeps just far enough away from his iconic cadence he has made part of his character in the Knives Out movies. The supporting cast doesn't have too many familiar faces scattered throughout, but there's room for Jason Schwartzman, Henrique Zaga, and Lesley Manville, as well as some fine work from those who are less recognisable.

I don't think the problem here lies with me, although that's not something I get to say too often. I think the main issue with the film is that everyone seems to be repeating themselves. Guadagnino has covered very similar territory in a number of his previous features, and Burroughs, well, his exploration of himself is less interesting, cinematically, than, for example, Charles Bukowski's exploration of others who end up sharing barstools alongside him, or Hubert Selby Jr.'s exploration of those chasing a high to block out the trashheap around them. And you can get a much more interesting journey through his hazy and fractured mind by choosing to watch/rewatch Naked Lunch, which I highly recommend.

There's some good atmosphere and some good performances, and I am sure that some will appreciate the themes of sexuality and looking for companionship, but there's just not enough here to recommend it ahead of many other films based on the works of those namechecked here, or even ahead of most other films from Guadagnino.

5/10.

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing, and ALL of the links you need are here - https://linktr.ee/raidersofthepodcast
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Challengers (2024)

A film all about tennis, except that it’s not really all about tennis. It’s all about sex, obsession, and power. But it’s also about tennis.

Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor play Art and Patrick, two tennis players who used to be very good friends. Their lives have gone in very different directions, however, and now Art is a pro trying to recover his form while Patrick is trying to win enough money to keep himself able to buy non-luxury items, like food. Both end up in a challenger tournament, and both end up playing against one another, observed by Tashi (Zendaya). Tasha is married to Art, but she is also very familiar with Patrick. Things may become messy and complicated, but it’s important to remember that this film is set in a world of tennis . . . where love equals zero.

Written by Justin Kuritzkes, his first major screenplay, this is a vibrant and steamy look at people who are pushing one another in different directions, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The material is elevated by Luca Gaudagnino’s electric direction, and a strange score from Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor that sometimes fits the visuals, but also sometimes just feels a bit jarring, yet now in a way that spoils the marriage between sight and sound.

The cast also help, absolutely fantastic in roles that allow them to relish being single-minded and fairly unpleasant for most of the runtime. Faist feels like the weakest of the three characters (in his nature, not in his performance), but his journey remains an intriguing one. O’Connor has more hunger in his eyes, although he also has some obvious failings that have held him back over the years. And then there’s Zendaya, casting a large shadow over these two men in a way that they don’t even fully realise until it is too late. Her turn here is wonderfully gritty and dispassionate, portraying someone who has decided to put all of her energy and effort into the career of someone else after her own dream came to a very sudden end.

Told in a non-chronological way, my main criticism is that there are some time jumps that feel a bit unnecessary, although everything becomes clear as you get used to the structure of the film. It feels like the right way to have done things though, especially by the time we get to a brilliantly satisfying finale. Momentum builds, camerawork is dizzyingly brilliant, and there’s a proper crescendo before everything ends, as should be the way of any great tennis match.

I wouldn’t say this is the best film for anyone involved, apart from Kuritzkes (so far), but it’s very good stuff. It’s sweaty, sexy, strange, and occasionally surprising. It’s certainly one of the best films about tennis that I can think of, despite it not really being about tennis.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share