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Credits

Rated: R; Genre: Drama; With: Lesley Sharp and David Thewlis; Distributor: Fine Line Features
B+
By Steve Daly
Steve Daly
Steve Daly
Steve Daly is a senior writer at EW, and also author of EW.com's Money Shot column

When relief is as nigh as your remote control stop button, it becomes an act of will to sit through Naked, Mike Leigh's bilious portrait of a young loser. But David Thewlis' utterly fearless performance as Johnny, a rangy, homeless rotter who ricochets through London abusing the women he picks up, deserves your patience. It's a sustained rant that raises verbal sparring to the heights Robert De Niro achieved playing Jake La Motta; Thewlis is a raging bull artist. Whether he's philosophizing gently with disenfranchised drudges — a security guard, a poster hanger — or acting out his fury in squalid couplings, Thewlis makes you see the hurt Johnny causes himself as well as others. That's not misogyny, that's artistry. B+


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Posted Jun 24, 1994
 

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