Jesus' Son (1999)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Alison Maclean

Writers:

Denis Johnson (book)
Elizabeth Cuthrell (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 July 2000 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young man turns from drug addiction and petty crime to a life redeemed by a discovery of compassion.

Plot Keywords:

Song | Iowa | Love | Shower | Mennonite

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Billy Crudup	...	FH
Robert Michael Kelly	...	Salesman
Torben Brooks	...	Car Crash Driver
Dierdre Lewis	...	Driver's Wife
Jimmy Moffit	...	Car Crash Doctor
Antoinette LaVecchia	...	Dead Man's Wife
Samantha Morton	...	Michelle
Steve Buck	...	Richard
Ben Shenkman	...	Tom
Scott Oster	...	Stan
Brooke Rachel Shive	...	Beatle (as Brooke Shive)
Mark Webber	...	Jack Hotel
John Ventimiglia	...	McInnes
Jesse Weaver Jr.	...	Carl
Michael Shannon	...	Dundun (as Mike Shannon)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic drug use, strong language, sexuality and some violent images.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:R | France:U | Germany:12 | New Zealand:R18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bellmawr, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Evenstar Films

Trivia:

The movie's title comes from a line in the Lou Reed song "Heroin".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Many of the hairstyles (men and women’s) and facial hair aren't period correct for the 70's.

Quotes:

FH: Will you believe me when I tell you that, there *was* kindness... in his heart. His left hand didn't know what his right hand was doin'. It's just that certain important connections had been burned through. If I opened up *your* head, an' ran a hot soldering iron around in your brain; I might turn you into someone like that.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Comedy Central Roast of Denis Leary (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Hang on Sloopy

Searching for Meaning

"Searching for Meaning" could be the title of the movie as well as of the reactions of many people who didn't want to see below the mixed-up surface of the film. The story is the random ramblings of a reformed drug addict looking for some meaning to life, death, and the difference between the two.

There are some interesting symbols: a man with Jesus' heart, a singing Menonite mermaid in a shower, drugs as an escape from the drug called life, etc. Not the average stuff of a mainstream movie which explains why this is an independent film.

We go along on an oddly comic journey during which we contemplate the price we pay for our dreams, explore the way we hide our deformities from the world, realize that we pretend to be normal because we want to be normal -- whatever normal is. We all want to find our place in a strange world where we have to consider the answers to the questions "Why did God make us?" and "Why did God make us the way we are?"

The solution to the riddles seems to be connecting with all our fellow riddlers, realizing that we'll understand someday what it all means.

This is a disturbing, funny, sad film -- not for everybody, but an interesting experience for people who don't mind thinking about what is being shown on the screen.