Review of Jesus` Son

Introduction

This film is based on Denis Johnson`s Jesus` Son short stories of which I know nothing of. Here Billy Crudup plays FH, f***head, wandering through America in the 70`s, seeing a weird landscape of drug induced life while experiencing highs he never imagined. His introduction to this scenery is through Michelle, a girl he meets and falls for. His life then changes as he sinks lower and somehow needs to find a way out to some kind of normality again.

Video

The 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer is gorgeous. Adam Kimmel`s cinematography of the well composed and lit scenes comes out so well in the transfer. Colours are sharp and well saturated and there`s hardly a speck of dirt anywhere. Detail, contrast and blacks are all balanced from the first to the last frame of film. One problem I did notice was in the encoding in one scene where an actor walks quickly past a few trees, it`s noticeable but only lasts a couple of seconds.

Audio

I was initially disappointed with the 2-channel sound, DD2.0, but the film is quite dialogue heavy so it didn`t really matter at all. The film is perfectly watchable as it is with good clear dialogue coming through. It`s a shame more wasn`t made of the sound, even just ambient sound on the exterior locations would have added a little something extra to the mix.

Features

This is bare in terms of features, there`s a trailer and scene selection and that`s your lot. I would like to have some background on the cast and crew, or interviews, or just something else. Other regions too have the same amount of extras. There are no English or other language subtitles on this disc.

Conclusion

Where do I even start to write about this movie? I have no knowledge of the writer Denis Johnson or his work upon which this film is based, so I`ll you what I think of the DVD as it stands.

There`s no straight forward narrative or plot here, and Jesus` Son reminds me of Forrest Gump in that way. The story of a man drifting in 70s America, getting involved in all sorts of things. Our protagonist, f***head (Billy Crudup), meanders, stumbles and mixes with odd characters, drugs of all sorts and petty crime.

He first meets Michelle by chance in a house of people just dancing and having a good time. He`s in awe of this woman who has a sexual energy about her and is immediately drawn to her. This is our introduction to FH`s story and their up and down relationship fuelled by heroin and nothingness. At first there`s a lack of ambition and they seem to coast on life moving around and not doing much at all but as time moves on there`s a sense of FH trying to find himself. Things aren`t obvious, but he continues and comes across wildly odd people. By the end of the story FH is on the path to redeeming himself and it`s nice to see how he changes on his journey.

The story unfolds as FH tells it. He goes back on himself to fill in the gaps but the story remain somewhat linear and we hear his charming narration of events. His sometimes stormy relatioship with Michelle (Samantha Morton) is told well and I thought the film was poignant and compelling the first couple of times I saw it.

The casting is nothing short of good, Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton and Jack Black as FH, Michelle and Georgie are well suited and exude energy on screen. The cameos of Denis Leary, Dennis Hopper and Holly Hunter too add something to the screen mix in their parts. I thought the casting here was top notch. Film direction from Alison Maclean too wasn`t over the top and used good imagery.

As nice as I think this film is, it does feel a little disjointed. The adaptation of the short stories with these various characters and goings on seems a little thin in some places while attempting to join them together. Sometimes it works, other times it didn`t. Having said that, I think that Jesus` Son is a quirky movie and one that I enjoyed.

It`s worth watching 2 or 3 times to get the story and as such it makes a good rental, but it`s not something I would recommend buying for keeps since it just doesn`t have much replay value.