Jesus' Son (2000)

This is a strange film, a combination of goofy, sad comedy and profound tragedy, but it is a very pleasant film nonetheless. FH (Billy Crudup) is a drug (mainly pills) addict who seems to have a life devoid of any direction or purpose, and yet he has odd abilities and premonitions, along with an "everything will be okay no matter what happens" attitude. He hitches a ride with a family, all the while knowing a car accident will kill most of them. He rescues the infant member of the family, and it strangely coincides with the fact that his girlfriend Michelle (Samantha Morton) had an abortion around that same time. FH lives through the horrible suicide of Michelle somehow, and begins to try to get away from drugs and have a life that makes sense. There are bizarre scenes involving baby bunnies, being able to put a hand through a glass window as if one were a ghost instead of flesh and blood, and an ensemble of characters whose lives FH touches in one way or another, played by Jack Black, Denis Leary, Holly Hunter, and Dennis Hopper. There is no solid "plot" as it were. It's just a tour through a lost, lonely soul looking for a place in the world where he belongs.A very different kind of film, with a cryptic story and main character, but it feels like a refreshment compared to many movies being made today.

Being a huge fan of Denis Johnson and Lou Reed, I was curious how they could make a movie from such unusually random events. The movie does such a great job stitching together Johnson's stories. They are extraordinary, humorous, and often touching. Together they make, in my opinion, one of the best 'drug' related movies ever. It is Borroughsesque in its candid, accurate portrayal of heroin addiction. The flashbacks and fuzzy pieced together vignettes resemble the actual effect heroin has on time. Time seems to slow down with days starting to blur into nights. The movie really touched me as I saw some of FH in myself. I too am a recovering addict. I have been clean for over a year now. Thank god for suboxone!!! For anyone grappling with heroin addiction please consider suboxone therapy. It has truly saved my life, marriage, and sanity.

Last night I watched Jesus' Son I easily give it an A- Billy Crudup as "Fuck Head" gives a strongly addicting performance, showing his acting prowess to be well beyond his years. The range of humanity he is able to bring to this character is reminiscent of a young Robert De Niro. Although Crudup is cast seemingly at random with Samantha Morton, who plays "Michelle" the catalysts for much of "Fuck Head's" evolution; their performances together are gritty and riveting.This is a completely original telling of the over used genre of how a man from the 1970's "turns from drug addiction and petty crime to a life redeemed by a discovery of compassion." With such a story, there are scenes of absurdity and excessiveness, during which I found myself about to write-off the rest of the movie until I realized that each spectacle of a scene came with a sudden blunt crash back to a harsh reality. This allows us as viewers to experience some of the roller-coaster ride the characters go through without the side affects usually associated with Heroin.Furthermore, this movie is splattered with brilliant cameos from Dennis Hopper, Will Patton, and two of my favorites come from Jack Black and Denis Leary.I suggest you turn the lights off, sit down, crank the volume, and watch this movie with a stiff drink; you won't be disappointed.

There was only one other review of this film when I wrote this and it deserved more than that, so here I am. I'll refer you to that review for much more detail, but I wanted to second the motion that this film deserves wider recognition. It's a bit "arty" but in an unpretentious kind of way, with some good laughs as well as some deep ideas. It's also not a bad film to watch with your teenagers (if they'll do something like that!) as a surreptitious way to get them to "just say no" to drugs. It paints what looks like a realistic portrait of life on drugs.I wanted to stop here, but IMDb is telling me I need 10 lines before they'll accept a review, which I hope they'll change. So what to add? Great acting and some great one-liners.