Well, we finally saw the artfully made “Kill Your Darlings” last night at its New York premiere. Daniel Radcliffe continues his grand crusade to move away from “Harry Potter.” In this one, he makes out with Dane DeHaan while playing the famed late gay poet Allen Ginsburg. He also gets fellated by a female coed while making eyes with DeHaan, who plays Lucien Carr.
“Kill Your Darlings” recalls the true story of how Carr murdered his gay lover, played by “Dexter” star Michael C.Hall, then asked Jack Kerouac (an excellent Jack Houston) to help him get rid of the switchblade in question. The fourth part of this group is William S. Burroughs, in a spot on performance by Ben Foster.
Yes, it all happened in 1943, in New York, when ‘downtown’ was considered ‘for queers’ only, and these boys were making a mockery uptown of Columbia University. Of course, Kerouac, Burroughs, and Ginsberg all went on to become quite famous. Carr spent a short time in jail, married three times, and two children. One of them is Caleb Carr, author of “The Alienist,” a movie no one’s been able to make.
Last night’s premiere at the Paris Theater– and then the new downtown Tao in the Maritime Hotel– brought out a few interesting types. Jason Ritter, shooting a midseason TV series in Brookly, stopped by. Famed publisher Nan Talese and husband Gay, the esteemed writer, caught the screening. James Marsden and Patrick Wilson also attended.
This is what I can tell you: everyone in this film is young and thin. I hated all of them.
Seriously: Daniel Radcliffe remains the same great “kid.” Everyone loves him. He’s serious about his work. Dane DeHaan is The Next Big Thing. He’s the new Leo. He’s off to shoot a movie playing James Dean alongside Robert Pattinson. Then he plays Harry Osborn in the second “Spider Man” movie of this series. If James Franco isn’t careful, DeHaan will next play a hiker who loses his leg while trapped in the Andes. Then he’ll start writing novels and going back to school.
PS I wish Michael C. Hall had been at the premiere. “Kill Your Darlings” is first step to movies now. And there’s an irony since “Dexter” killed all those people. It’s Hall who gets it in “Kill.” Poetic justice for real!
