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Directed by: Alison Maclean Starring: Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton, Denis Leary, Jack Black... No, Jesus' Son isn't about Jesus or his son. It's based on the Denis Johnson novel of the same title, lifted from a line in the Velvet Underground song "Heroin". I'm not sure that I can express why I like this movie so much. After seeing it a couple months back, I had to buy it and watch it over and over again. The film follows our narrator, "Fuckhead" (that's all we know him as, at least), played by Billy Crudup, over a three to four year period in his life in the early seventies. Yes, he becomes addicted to heroin, but the movie isn't about that. Addiction is a part of his life, as are all of the other charaters in the film who drift in and out of the discontinuous story. Jack Black, Denis Leary, and Denis Hopper are listed on the cover of the film, but their parts are fleeting. They're memorable as well. Jack Black's part in this film is, in my opinion, the funniest he's ever done. You will be confused at times. Stories are told out of order, and the viewer is thrown into Fuckhead's life with very little information about him, or who all these people around him are. The story feels like the narrator is sitting in the room with you trying to figure out the best way to tell it, often going back and changing small details. Basically, a very well done film with superb acting from all involved, as well as excellent writing. This movie doesn't have much of a plot. As I stated, it basically follows Fuckhead through a period of his life. There's no bad guy... he doesn't have to raise a certain amount of money in a certain amount of time... If this turns you off, maybe this movie isn't for you. Because it definitely isn't for everyone. INTERESTING FACT: The dude who gets stabbed in the eye in the hospital is the author of the novel, Denis Johnson. RATING: 5 PROS: Acting, dialogue, some very comedic scenes. CONS: None, in my opinion, although many may find it slow, boring, and pointless. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://imdb.com/title/tt0186253/
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May 17, 2004 20:33
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I've only seen the movie once and I liked it a lot. Over the last 4 years of college, I have become more and more interested in "anti-movies" which I just made up to describe films like this one. It used to be that a film's main character had to go through some incredible change, realize the error of his ways, become a better person, etc. There has to be a lot of meaningful dialogue, a love story, blah blah blah. Times have changed, and movies like this are more representative of real life to me. Billy Crudup walks around talking to people and doing drugs, and most people don't like him but I found it hard not to. He's an average guy who tries to better himself and really doesn't, and I can't fault him for it. I love movies like this. No fighting sequences or explosions are necessary to touch an everyday guy like me. I like that Jesus' Son is so simple in its melancholy look at life through the eyes of a Fuckhead. 4/5
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May 17, 2004 23:51
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