Beat (2000)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Gary Walkow

Writer:

Gary Walkow (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Sex and Drugs before Rock and Roll

Plot:

The story of writer William Seward Burroughs and his wife. |

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Homosexual | Beatnik | Jealousy | Heroin

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Courtney Love	...	Joan Vollmer Burroughs
Kiefer Sutherland	...	William S. Burroughs
Lisa Sheridan	...	Sadie
Patricia Llaca	...	Mary (as Patricia De Llaca)
Steve Hedden	...	Pharmacist
Ron Livingston	...	Allen Ginsberg
Norman Reedus	...	Lucien Carr
Daniel Martínez	...	Jack Kerouac
Kyle Secor	...	Dave Kammerer
Pedro Gonzalez	...	Knife Sharpener
Georgiana Sîrbu	...	Julie
Rene Rubio	...	Bill Jr.
Sam Trammell	...	Lee
Alec Von Bargen	...	Heard
Tommy Perna	...	Dwight

MPAA:

Rated R for language and elements of sex, drugs and violence.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, México D.F., Mexico

Company:

Background Productions

Quotes:

Lucien Carr: They'll probably give me the chair for this, huh?
William S. Burroughs: Don't be absurd. They don't fry freshman literature students.

Movie Connections:

Version of Naked Lunch (1991)

Don't follow this 'Beat!'

'Beat' is nothing but an unbearably slow-paced feature whose sole purpose is to cause instant sleepiness. The film starts off with unhelpful, brief prologue of how aspiring writer Lucien Carr (Norman Reedus) brought five people together, including William Burroughs (Kiefer Sutherland) and Allen Ginsburg (Ron Livingston). Their literary clique is broken up by a colleague's murder and Burroughs leaving NYC for Mexico. Seven years later, Lucien and Allen visit Mexico City, where they discovered William left his wife Joan (Courtney Love) and their children for a rendezvous in Guatemala with his young male lover.

Lucien figures Joan needs to leave her bored existence in the slum. Thus, the trio embark on a road trip to a volcano-ravaged village. Soon, sparks erupt between Joan and Lucien. The trip ends and Joan must decide if she wants to stay with William in Mexico or return to New York City with her friends. 'Beat' is boring and tiresome. From the performances, it seems that the cast certainly agrees. The blame is solely on the lame script by director Gary Walkow. This could have been a better film if Walkow knew the heck he was writing. (0/4)