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Amos Lassen wrote on 01/09/2011:

“William S. Burroughs: A Man Within”
Remembering Burroughs
Amos Lassen
Oscilloscope Pictures who gave us James Franco as Allen Ginsberg in “Howl” now give us a look at the author of “Naked Lunch”, William S. Burroughs. I learned a great deal about Burroughs—for example, he was the heir to the company that produced the Burroughs adding machine and that his life was a battle against addictions. Burroughs could not deal with social control and he both killed his own wife and neglected his son. “Naked Lunch” was banned by our government and interesting enough it is considered to be a work that is instantly recognized for its literary value—so much so that the decision to ban it was overturned. Burroughs was a representative of both the drug and gay cultures of the mid-twentieth century and he documented them in his writings.
Yoni Leyser gives us a look at Burroughs, the man, in this personal documentary and after watching it, I will be regarding Burroughs in a completely different way. He was one of the most enigmatic persons in the American literary scene. He was misunderstood and his fame was more infamy than anything else. He was strange, perhaps even bizarre but he was a man with feelings and emotions as we see here. He was a sad man who feared love.
Director Leyser gives us interviews with those who knew Burroughs—Iggy Pop, John Waters, Patti Smith, Laurie Anderson, Paul Weller and others and we see and hear so much. He is still regarded as the “godfather of the Beats” but more important is that we see him as a man. I do not think we will ever understand or know all there is about the man, but this is a start and a wonderful one at that. Director Leyser is quite young so he probably did not have any dealings with Burroughs himself but nevertheless he gives us the most comprehensive look at the man to date. He gives us a film that he should be very, very proud of.