Amazon.co.uk Review
Drama Fans of the short stories in Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son will wonder how anyone could film a book so beautifully, radiantly, defiantly strange. The good news is that Alison Maclean's film version is more than just faithful to the book's spirit: it's the closest thing to a visual equivalent of Johnson's visionary prose. As a series of vignettes in the life of an unnamed Midwestern junkie-slash-holy fool, the stories are linked more through imagery than through anything so linear as a plot. Maclean preserves this episodic structure but adds just enough narrative glue to make the whole thing hang together as a film. (And wisely so; if she hadn't, there'd have been no role at all for Samantha Morton, brilliant here as Michelle, the narrator's girlfriend.) With a hero called Fuckhead, you know this isn't going to be entertainment for the whole family, and some of the scenes of drug use and associated gore are grim indeed. But the movie looks just right and some of its images are so beautiful it hurts: old movies playing in an empty drive-in, snow swirling all around; a naked woman parasailing through the sky with her long red hair streaming behind. Maclean also coaxes wonderful performances from a dream-indie cast, including Morton, the magnetic Billy Crudup as Fuckhead, Dennis Hopper, Holly Hunter, an uncharacteristically understated Denis Leary and even, in a gruesome cameo, Denis Johnson himself. (Hint: look for the knife. Then look away quickly.) Once again, Jack Black hijacks every frame in which he appears, and his turn as a pill-popping orderly gives new meaning to the phrase "I save lives". Things drag a little during the last half-hour, but squirm not: following Fuckhead through rehab and beyond, the book's closing scenes are genuinely redemptive without hitting the audience over the head with a "lesson" of any kind. Jesus' Son is Maclean's first feature film since 1992's Crush; let's hope she won't make us wait as long before the next fix. --Mary Park
Customer Reviews:
Future classic.......2005-07-24
I found this film incredibly emotional. There is no denying it has its tragic moments but they are all interspersed with a strange joy rarely found in today's cinema. Some scenes had me choking with laughter including Jack Black's, surely career topping, performance. That in some way is its beauty, Billy Crudup and Samantha Morton are excellent but almost seem to just be foundations for the rest of the cast. For instance I've always enjoyed Denis Leary but his short role as 'Wayne' came as more as a surprise than Jack Black, never before have I seen Leary cast so well. There possibly isn't any point in mentioning Dennis Hopper, who is often almost flawless in any film, I can't help it though and his performance in this rivals those in 'Rumblefish' and 'True Romance.' Anyway, to any fan of films that have that special difference which doesn't always do them much credit at the box office, this hopefully is the one for you. Also please be warned that I don't pay much attention to extras on DVDs, so my rating is only based on the quality of the film. Hope you enjoy it.
Excellent adaptation of Johnson's short stories.......2002-06-24
Wasn't too sure to begin with- having read Denis Johnson's source book of short-stories (drugstore cowboy, if scripted by Raymond Carver) and becoming attached to the book in the way that readers do...THis is a great adaptation- one that took its time in getting made and that extends on the source and makes more cohesive (e.g. f***head becomes the main character that binds the episodes, ditto the love-affair with Morton's character).
Why- or rather, how, this film got overlooked by the masses is beyond me. This is much better than 'Trainspotting' or empty style mag dross like 'Human Traffic'- Alison 'Crush' MacLean having more knowledge of cinema than one confined to endless viewings of 'Goodfellas' & 'Pulp Fiction'.
There are plenty of moments of beauty in this- the split screen OD's of Crudup & Leary (recalling that other recent drugs classic, 'Requiem for a DReam'), Morton's pale naked body in the background as Crudup eats a note, the early dancing scene, the opening car crash, the affair between Hunter's character & Crudup's or the singing Amish woman...This film will hopefully find its audience on video- it is wonderfully acted (Jack Black stands out, along with Crudup & Morton) and Denis Johnson himself plays the guy with the hunting knife in his eye! Plus, the soundtrack is great- particularly Wilco/Billy Bragg's 'Airline to Heaven'. Proof that Johnson's divine prose can be translated into film; here's to David Lynch's adaptation of 'Already Dead' and Paul Schrader's adaptation of 'THe Name of the World'!
Subtly Defies Expectations.......2001-10-12
This film shows great cinematic flair, and features some remarkable editing as well as fine performances already described by other reviewers. (Does anyone else remember Jack Black in his small but hysterical role in Bob Roberts?)
You are led to feel sympathy for the main protagonist (what's his name again?) despite his stupidity and sometimes callous attitude and the nihilism of his goofy pals. Credit should be given to Billy Crudup for his seemingly effortless charm and the warmth he brings to the role.
Despite this nihilism, and despite all the camera trickery and editing effects, this film has, too my mind one of the most warmly uplifiting final scenes of any movie, without it being cloyingly sentimental, as our hero finally discovers a role for himself (or at least he THINKS he's found a role, but he may be there for another reason . . .)
Lucid yet clouded...quite unlike other "drug" movies.......2001-06-26
To conceptualise Alison Maclean's stunning film would do it no justice. If it's a Road Movie -- where's the easy moralising, the sparse colour-saturated views of the mid-west? A "drug" movie -- then lacking in oh-so-easily distinguishable moments of joy and despair, no noticeable glamour, no literal squalor? A tragi-romance? A comedy of errors, as well as one of manners? A buddy-movie, except with many buddies? The brilliance here lies in a film easily able to branche across genre. A work so careful, yet sometimes so broad that it will intrigue you as much as it will disgust you. A film as provoking as much its stunning familiarity and desolate images will remind you, comfort you. A film crowned with performances by Denis Leary, Samantha Morton, Jack Black and Holly Hunter (including a fine turn by Dennis Hopper) that are subtle and rounded -- real. A film topped by the supreme characterisation skill of the woefully undervalued Billy Crudup. A film that needs to be watched, and re-watched to be understood. A film that won't let itself be understood. A film you need to buy.
Slackers have never seemed so funky.......2001-06-13
A pre-High Fidelity Jack Black steals the show as a supporting actor in this hilarious but often poignant tale of 'F*ckhead' (Billy Cruddup), the guy with a heart of gold, but brains of glue. Cruddup's character spends his days scoring drugs and trying to make a fast buck. Through his drug hazed eyes we see his world: a mix of oddball characters and bizarre dilemmas, where the only thing you can trust is the knowledge that nothing will go right, no matter how hard you try, and the harder you try the more will go wrong. Samantha Morton plays a blinder as the girl who gets him onto hard drugs and into more trouble than he could ever have dreamed of. The religious theme is tenuous until the end, where his laying on of hands shows him that he can make a difference. A black redemption comedy for the slacker era.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Drama Fans of the short stories in Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son will wonder how anyone could film a book so beautifully, radiantly, defiantly strange. The good news is that Alison Maclean's film version is more than just faithful to the book's spirit: it's the closest thing to a visual equivalent of Johnson's visionary prose. As a series of vignettes in the life of an unnamed Midwestern junkie-slash-holy fool, the stories are linked more through imagery than through anything so linear as a plot. Maclean preserves this episodic structure but adds just enough narrative glue to make the whole thing hang together as a film. (And wisely so; if she hadn't, there'd have been no role at all for Samantha Morton, brilliant here as Michelle, the narrator's girlfriend.) With a hero called Fuckhead, you know this isn't going to be entertainment for the whole family, and some of the scenes of drug use and associated gore are grim indeed. But the movie looks just right and some of its images are so beautiful it hurts: old movies playing in an empty drive-in, snow swirling all around; a naked woman parasailing through the sky with her long red hair streaming behind. Maclean also coaxes wonderful performances from a dream-indie cast, including Morton, the magnetic Billy Crudup as Fuckhead, Dennis Hopper, Holly Hunter, an uncharacteristically understated Denis Leary and even, in a gruesome cameo, Denis Johnson himself. (Hint: look for the knife. Then look away quickly.) Once again, Jack Black hijacks every frame in which he appears, and his turn as a pill-popping orderly gives new meaning to the phrase "I save lives". Things drag a little during the last half-hour, but squirm not: following Fuckhead through rehab and beyond, the book's closing scenes are genuinely redemptive without hitting the audience over the head with a "lesson" of any kind. Jesus' Son is Maclean's first feature film since 1992's Crush; let's hope she won't make us wait as long before the next fix. --Mary Park
Customer Reviews:
Future classic.......2005-07-24
I found this film incredibly emotional. There is no denying it has its tragic moments but they are all interspersed with a strange joy rarely found in today's cinema. Some scenes had me choking with laughter including Jack Black's, surely career topping, performance. That in some way is its beauty, Billy Crudup and Samantha Morton are excellent but almost seem to just be foundations for the rest of the cast. For instance I've always enjoyed Denis Leary but his short role as 'Wayne' came as more as a surprise than Jack Black, never before have I seen Leary cast so well. There possibly isn't any point in mentioning Dennis Hopper, who is often almost flawless in any film, I can't help it though and his performance in this rivals those in 'Rumblefish' and 'True Romance.' Anyway, to any fan of films that have that special difference which doesn't always do them much credit at the box office, this hopefully is the one for you. Also please be warned that I don't pay much attention to extras on DVDs, so my rating is only based on the quality of the film. Hope you enjoy it.
Excellent adaptation of Johnson's short stories.......2002-06-24
Wasn't too sure to begin with- having read Denis Johnson's source book of short-stories (drugstore cowboy, if scripted by Raymond Carver) and becoming attached to the book in the way that readers do...THis is a great adaptation- one that took its time in getting made and that extends on the source and makes more cohesive (e.g. f***head becomes the main character that binds the episodes, ditto the love-affair with Morton's character).
Why- or rather, how, this film got overlooked by the masses is beyond me. This is much better than 'Trainspotting' or empty style mag dross like 'Human Traffic'- Alison 'Crush' MacLean having more knowledge of cinema than one confined to endless viewings of 'Goodfellas' & 'Pulp Fiction'.
There are plenty of moments of beauty in this- the split screen OD's of Crudup & Leary (recalling that other recent drugs classic, 'Requiem for a DReam'), Morton's pale naked body in the background as Crudup eats a note, the early dancing scene, the opening car crash, the affair between Hunter's character & Crudup's or the singing Amish woman...This film will hopefully find its audience on video- it is wonderfully acted (Jack Black stands out, along with Crudup & Morton) and Denis Johnson himself plays the guy with the hunting knife in his eye! Plus, the soundtrack is great- particularly Wilco/Billy Bragg's 'Airline to Heaven'. Proof that Johnson's divine prose can be translated into film; here's to David Lynch's adaptation of 'Already Dead' and Paul Schrader's adaptation of 'THe Name of the World'!
Subtly Defies Expectations.......2001-10-12
This film shows great cinematic flair, and features some remarkable editing as well as fine performances already described by other reviewers. (Does anyone else remember Jack Black in his small but hysterical role in Bob Roberts?)
You are led to feel sympathy for the main protagonist (what's his name again?) despite his stupidity and sometimes callous attitude and the nihilism of his goofy pals. Credit should be given to Billy Crudup for his seemingly effortless charm and the warmth he brings to the role.
Despite this nihilism, and despite all the camera trickery and editing effects, this film has, too my mind one of the most warmly uplifiting final scenes of any movie, without it being cloyingly sentimental, as our hero finally discovers a role for himself (or at least he THINKS he's found a role, but he may be there for another reason . . .)
Lucid yet clouded...quite unlike other "drug" movies.......2001-06-26
To conceptualise Alison Maclean's stunning film would do it no justice. If it's a Road Movie -- where's the easy moralising, the sparse colour-saturated views of the mid-west? A "drug" movie -- then lacking in oh-so-easily distinguishable moments of joy and despair, no noticeable glamour, no literal squalor? A tragi-romance? A comedy of errors, as well as one of manners? A buddy-movie, except with many buddies? The brilliance here lies in a film easily able to branche across genre. A work so careful, yet sometimes so broad that it will intrigue you as much as it will disgust you. A film as provoking as much its stunning familiarity and desolate images will remind you, comfort you. A film crowned with performances by Denis Leary, Samantha Morton, Jack Black and Holly Hunter (including a fine turn by Dennis Hopper) that are subtle and rounded -- real. A film topped by the supreme characterisation skill of the woefully undervalued Billy Crudup. A film that needs to be watched, and re-watched to be understood. A film that won't let itself be understood. A film you need to buy.
Slackers have never seemed so funky.......2001-06-13
A pre-High Fidelity Jack Black steals the show as a supporting actor in this hilarious but often poignant tale of 'F*ckhead' (Billy Cruddup), the guy with a heart of gold, but brains of glue. Cruddup's character spends his days scoring drugs and trying to make a fast buck. Through his drug hazed eyes we see his world: a mix of oddball characters and bizarre dilemmas, where the only thing you can trust is the knowledge that nothing will go right, no matter how hard you try, and the harder you try the more will go wrong. Samantha Morton plays a blinder as the girl who gets him onto hard drugs and into more trouble than he could ever have dreamed of. The religious theme is tenuous until the end, where his laying on of hands shows him that he can make a difference. A black redemption comedy for the slacker era.
DVD:
- Joe 90 - Vol. 1 [1968]
- Leaving Las Vegas [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Little Women [1933] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Lorna Doone [1922] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Macao [1952] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Marked Woman [1937] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Merlin's Apprentice [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Monsters, Inc. [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Moulin Rouge [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- My Little Pony : Tales
DVD List
DVD
![Jesus' Son [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/212NH87DHML.jpg)
All Children's DVD
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Children's DVD
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Categories
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Video
Jesus' Son
![Waking The Dead [1999]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000057X1E.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Waking The Dead [1999]
![World Traveler [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00000FCV6.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
World Traveler [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Seek: Reports from the Edges of America and Beyond
The Name of the World
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