JESUS' SON
1999

August 20, 2001
HBO

An aimless young man tries to redeem himself after a life of drug addiction and petty theft.

-->Directed.....Alison Maclean [MichaelVox's Top TV Drama Of All Time: Homicide: Life On The Street; Subway Stories: Tales From The Underground; Sex And The City; Beloved]
-->Fuck Head.....Billy Crudup [Sleepers; Everyone Says I Love You; Inventing The Abbotts; Waking The Dead; Almost Famous]
-->Michelle.....Samantha Morton
-->Wayne.....Denis Leary [Strictly Business; Demolition Man; Judgment Night; Natural Born Killers; Subway Stories: Tales From The Underground; Suicide Kings; Wag The Dog; A Bug's Life]
-->Georgie.....Jack Black [MichaelVox's Favorite Sketch Show, Mr. Show; Tenacious D; Bob Roberts; Demolition Man; Bye Bye Love; Waterworld; Dead Man Walking; The Cable Guy; The Fan; Enemy Of The State; High Fidelity]
-->Mira.....Holly Hunter [MichaelVox's Top Five Favorite Actresses; Blood Simple; Raising Arizona; Broadcast News; Roe vs. Wade; Always; Miss Firecracker; Once Around; The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom; The Piano; The Firm; Copycat; Home For The Holidays; Crash; Living Out Loud; O Brother Where Art Thou?]

The cast is great and I'm a big fan of Crudup's but this film didn't capture me at any point. I wanted it to, but I was never sure if Fuck Head (his actual character name) was an idiot or just on drugs or that's the way he acted to get his way. The voiceovers are funny, but he seems more intelligent than his onscreen character. Morton is terrific as a fellow junkie who loves Fuck Head nearly unconditionally. Leary is a drunk guy who drowns his sorrows over losing his wife. Jack Black is perhaps the funniest man in America and all of his scenes (he plays a hospital orderly) are hilarious. He is much better than the material. And Holly Hunter is great in everything she does. Her small part brings a bit of life to this film but its too late by the time she shows up. There is spiritual stuff involving an Amish couple that I still don't understand. The look of the film was good to be sure. The 70s style (or lack of) was well represented. There is a scary real looking car crash. And Crudup is nothing if not charismatic. But he sort of drags along reacting to stuff as it happens. A good cast that could have done better.