Jesus' Son (2000)

the audience applauded

Sadly Over-hyped

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

FH,short for Fuckhead, is a gentle and usually mellow young man.He sometimes knows things before they happen.In the movie,he tell us his story.He narrates the following: how he met Michelle in Iowa; how he got the name Fuckhead; how she introduced him to heroin; their romantic relationship; his life as a thief; and his job in the hospital. Aside from that,he also tells his story about his life with Michelle in Chicago when she gets pregnant; and many more.As he tells details of his life,the viewers gets a view of FH and his gifts as well as his abilities.The acting of Jesus' Son is great.It is a delight to see Billy Cudrup as FH.Special Mention must also be given to rest of the cast:Samantha Morton, Holly Hunter, Dennis Hopper, Denis Leary, Will Patton, John Ventimiglia, Michael Shannon and Jack Black.Aside from that,the screenplay was written by Elizabeth Cuthrell, David Urrutia, and Oren Moverman were excellent.The direction of Alison Maclean is also commendable. Definitely,it is a good adaptation of the novel of Denis Johnson.Highly recommended. A 10/10 rating.

Being a huge fan of Denis Johnson and Lou Reed, I was curious how they could make a movie from such unusually random events. The movie does such a great job stitching together Johnson's stories. They are extraordinary, humorous, and often touching. Together they make, in my opinion, one of the best 'drug' related movies ever. It is Borroughsesque in its candid, accurate portrayal of heroin addiction. The flashbacks and fuzzy pieced together vignettes resemble the actual effect heroin has on time. Time seems to slow down with days starting to blur into nights. The movie really touched me as I saw some of FH in myself. I too am a recovering addict. I have been clean for over a year now. Thank god for suboxone!!! For anyone grappling with heroin addiction please consider suboxone therapy. It has truly saved my life, marriage, and sanity.

If you're looking for a clean, linear story about someone who does drugs, sees the error of his ways and emerges, butterfly-like, as a model citizen, turn right around and walk back the way you came. Jesus' Son instead patches together anecdotal episodes of our amiably inept non-hero's life and acquaintances to give us a picture of a very human, very well-meaning but disconnected and directionless young man. Rather than eagerly awaiting the conclusion of the story, I often found myself mourning the brevity of many of the little segments, which are no less enjoyable alone than as part of a larger narrative.This film needs to be seen for the hospital scene alone. Without spoiling anything, Alison Maclean has assembled a beautifully disjointed array of characters - kudos has and will continue to be given for the deliciously disastrous Jack Black, who both steals the show and plays off Crudup magnificently, but the part of the reception nurse (played by Yvette Mercedes) is also brief but brilliant and deserves a mention.The acting makes this film - it's clever and human and warm, but without the necessary cast, its meandering structure may not have stood up to scrutiny. The quietly terrifying Dundun, the explosive Michelle, Denis Leary and Dennis Hopper's respective turns - all do fine credit to it.Crudup is wonderful; in his hands, the film skirts widely around the clichéd Drugs Are Bad, Mmkay ground of too many films (for every great film of that ilk - Requiem for a Dream, Basketball Diaries - there are many awful ones), and he plays FH subtly and remarkably as a essentially optimistic and wide-eyed fella whose naivety, lack of direction and dubious associations get him into frequent trouble. The structure of his narration is great in its naturalism, starting to tell one anecdote before remembering he forgot to explain something previous - and it adds great depths to his character. One can imagine FH having been the kid at school with "Must try harder" written in red across every assignment.Jesus' Son seems to have divided opinion across the board. It's certainly not for everyone but to my mind, it's one of the best and most unusual films of recent years. Ultimately, if you're prepared to sit and watch something real, terrifically funny, occasionally disorganised, and all too human - a film that eschews neat edges, Hollywood trimming and concise plot structures for a fantastically life-sized character study of someone many of us will recognise in ourselves - then I doubt you'll be disappointed.

This left me slightly confused, but with some degree of hope. Too many random events that lead nowhere. FH was really lost, without focus and the narrative of the story reflected that fact. He meant well but was easily swayed into doing very stupid things, and allowing people to take advantage of him. He is a true innocent in many fashions, without anyone to guide him. I was surprised to see as many recognisable celebrities in this movie playing such small roles. If you enjoyed Drugstore Cowboy, then you'll enjoy this movie. Nice use of computer FX to alter reality too. Interesting all around although pointless at times... much like our lives. No mention of his family.. parents.. leaves you wondering if he's just a homeless drifter.. like Jesus perhaps? the truth is left unknown..