On the Road with Judas (2007)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Buffet of excellence in movie making perhaps. I saw this film in Columbia, MO and I honestly have to say that it's one of the most innovative independent films to come out in the past few years. It's a beautifully crafted narrative that is overflowing with young talent. It seems like a really complex, trying-too-hard independent film, but it couldn't be further from that. It's actually a fun-loving hip comedy for the most part, with a solid love story going under the current.It's reassuring that movies like this are still made. Movies that are this brave and unflinching in their vision are few and far between so you better see this while it's out since it will be a while until another movie like this comes out.

This played Sundance I think last year. It's crazy. It's like a not-at-all creepy David Lynch. It's very hard to explain. But you have a writer of an autobiographical book, and the book is being adapted into a movie. The film follows the author, the actor playing the author, the filmmaker making the movie, and also the author of the REAL book/actual director of the movie, JJ Lask.If you think Charlie Kaufman is meta, then you haven't even scratched the surface of On The Road With Judas. There are some of my favorite actors in the film too - Kevin Corrigan, Aaron Ruell (from Napoleon Dynamite), and that guy from American Pie Eddie Kaye Thomas is in it too. It's a real mindfuck of a movie - it's kind of like the movie version of a really hard sudoku problem, but really rewarding when it all comes together.And unlike a lot of other films that are about themselves - it never sacrifices human emotion for the sake of it's cleverness. At it's very core is an honest love story, that is very well drawn.

On The Road With Judas was a gem of a film, using an interesting device of stories within stories, of a book's characters, the screen version characters, the writer's vision, all looped together around a talk show host's coverage of the writer and his works. To really enjoy this unusual method of storytelling, relax and wait for it to start making sense—it will, if you pay attention—all the way to the end.This unique story centers on two boys in high school learning thievery for fun, and then as adults perfecting techniques and becoming thieves as an avocation to supplement their entrepreneurial business. Their business crew is clever and hardworking. The ensemble cast played well together, lead by Aaron Ruell and JJ Lask himself. Judas is small and smart, his best friend tall and more noticeable, which lands him in prison, "temporarily". Lask adds in a girl for a peek at how socially numb Judas reacts, to mix things up.The entire film worked, on many levels, including the acting, cinematography and editing. JJ Lask, Writer/Director of this film adaptation of his 2002 novel, whipped up a fascinating and elegantly fashioned bit of intellectual explorations. Quite witty and relevant. Ben Starkman, a lifelong friend of Lask's and fellow commercial editor of award winning commercials, did a fantastic job of lensing this complex, location-rich and day/night filming endeavor. Aaron Ruell adroitly delivers an intriguing Judas. I hope that this will come to a local art house so you can catch it. Otherwise, buy it or rent it on Netflix...Lask's original work is definitely a great addition to any discerning film collector's library.

I've been flying a lot lately, which means I've been watching a lot of saccharine movies or action flicks where censors have cut out the compelling bits. Everyone of them ends with a clear good guys/good girls get what they want (or at least get revenge) ending. Frankly, I'm sick of it.So, it was refreshing to see JJ Lask's film On the Road with Judas, a film that squishes time and the viewer's perception of reality. What extrudes are overlapping story lines that meet on a promotional interview of the film-- the "real" characters interact with the "actor" versions of themselves in a cheesy talk show. The story clips pieces from the "real" past together with the movie---so don't be surprised when you find yourself thinking, "But, uh, I thought he was..." I feel like if I say much more about the plot, I'll give a "spoiler," though, I'm not sure if even *I* know what the spoiler is.Look, I don't live in LA, and I'm not obsessed with IMDb like the folks I met recently in LA, so maybe this review won't help you judge why this movie is worth trekking to the next film festival or tiny showing it is at. All I can say is that I really enjoyed the movie--and I loved how people were normal, life was complex, and how a sense of low-key humor slithered it's way through the film. Take a chance and see it.*This movie was viewed at SIFF, the Seattle International Film Festival (North America's largest film festival), at the Northwest Film Forum.