Customer Reviews
Not A Class Act - By: The Critic, 28 Dec 2007 
The book was brilliant but sadly the same can NOT be said about the movie version.
Courtney Love is a fantastic singer & was sensational as the sexy stripper in the cult classic Julie Johnson - but this is not a film she can be proud of.
Boring, dull & bland.
Julie Johnson Was The Love Of My Life - By: Steve Allen, 27 Dec 2007 
I bought this because Courtney Love was BRILLIANT in her previous movie Julie Johnson...but this was not a Saturday Night Special or even a decent `road movie`.
Love was fantastic as single mum & sexy stripper Julie Johnson...but in this she is poor...as is the entire project.
Rubbish script , bad acting & no humour.
most distasteful thing i ever stand still for - By: Pierre Dervish, 07 Mar 2007 For anyone with even the slightest interest in Burroughs, this is a must-see, but for alll the wrong reasons. A car-crash biopic, untrue to the spirit of WSB & Joan Vollmer, badly written, poorly acted, utterly laughable. It would be hard to imagine a worse piece of casting of the skeletal & sepulchral Bill Burroughs than fleshy mesomorph Kiefer Sutherland. Courtney Love is similarly risible as Joan. Almost unbelievably awful.
Naked Love. - By: Ellie Akhgar, 02 Jan 2003 
Set in the 1940's in New York for the first half, Beat, provides us with the true story of William Borroughs, played by Kiefer Sutherland, & Borroughs' wife, Joan Volimer, played by Courtney Love.
The addition of Norman Reedus who presents his character, Lucian Carr, furthers the plot to convey a selection of characters with an array of emotions which are so brilliantly confronted throughout the film. Based upon the stormy relationship of Borroughs & Volimer, who later move to Mexico, the film also centers itself around Burroughs' homosexual affairs, the couple's drug dependent lifestyle & Volimer's desire for a life of chasing dreams, daring adventure & emotional stability. The most shocking moment, which is slightly echoed at the beginning of the film, is left until the end when Borroughs performs an old trick with his wife, which results in horrific consequences & was said to shape the rest of his career as both poet & author.
This is by no means & action, thriller or horror film, but one that appeals to the emotions & the senses & the fact that it is a true story makes it even more so. Despite Courtney Love recently being in many other acclaimed films, i personallly think this is one of her best performances whilst Kiefer Sutherland's depiction of the slightly nervous William S. Burroughs is also beautifully executed.
I reallly loved this film because alll the characters were mentallly accessible & we find ourselves sympathising with alll of them. Whilst the acting was great, the scenery was also pretty cool & for anyone who takes an interest in William Burroughs' work, i would say that this is a must see!
As this is a DVD speacial features include trailers, scene selection & subtitle selection.
