Synopsis
A riveting and emotional journey into the world of writer William S. Burroughs, a man considered as cold as an iceberg on a winter night.
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Cast
- Peter WellerSelf - Narrator
- William S. BurroughsSelf
- David CronenbergSelf
- Gus Van SantSelf
- Iggy PopSelf
- Jello BiafraSelf
- John WatersSelf
- Laurie AndersonSelf
- Patti SmithSelf
- Genesis P-OrridgeSelf
Recommendations
- 80
Boxoffice Magazine
Leyser has done his job with this, his first feature, burnishing Burroughs' legend and making manifest the enormous shadow he still casts over writers and artists of all stripe. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
A well-made but overly idolizing documentary. - 70
Village Voice
Leyser's collation of interviews and stock footage is polished enough to effectively perpetuate the Burroughs legend. - 70
Los Angeles Times
"A Man Within" won't be the last word on Burroughs, who died in 1997, but it's a welcome addition to the biographical canon - less as clear-eyed investigation than for the intimate and moving portrait it paints. - 70
The New York Times
It is all either blood-chilling or hilarious. For those who celebrate Burroughs as one of the darkest and greatest of all comic artists, he is an extreme social satirist of Swiftian stature, whose quasi-pornographic images offer a stark, ghastly/funny photonegative image of the American body politic. - 70
Variety
There is a wealth of anecdotal material. Like his subject, Leyser strives to disengage from the conventional, while still being lucid. He succeeds admirably. - 67
The A.V. Club
Offers a concise summary of Burroughs' life and works. Maybe too concise. At a mere 88 minutes, it feels a bit glancing. But as an introduction or refresher course, it gets the job done. - 60
The Hollywood Reporter
Contains enough fascinating archival footage to make it worthy of interest.