Jesus' Son Can be analyzed from various angles. From a cinematic perspective this is a really enjoyable film. The camera shots are very creative and well done. Diverse in color and imagery as well as in the kinds of characters you will see this movie is an interesting change from most coming-of-age and drug movies you will see.But let me tell you how this is a disappointing film. This actually bothers me the most. The plot seems to progress as if something pivotal is going to happen and you expect to see a resolution and a change in this man. I don't think this is portrayed well at all. With the deceiving title like Jesus' Son, this movie is very simplistic and shallow in its spiritual content. There are some references to Christianity and Jesus but thats about it. You do not see this man change or accept Jesus. There is nothing like that. What you are presented with is a very man-centered idea that its good to be a "good guy" and to be "compassionate" to people and not do drugs.But as if the lack of any substantial Christian content were not enough, I think this movie glamorizes sex and drugs instead of emphasizing their vanity. Even in the end, when you think that maybe he is changing there is no indication of any true Christian character in him. Even when you feel like the main character may be feeling compassion and love towards the wretched people he encounters he doesn't show it in any way.So, be warned, this is not a Christian movie, nor is it a good anti-drug film. Its a very cinematically pleasing noir-style indie film that simply tells you that people should be nice. It is sad that there are very few real Christian movies out there. I can only highly recommend The End of The Spear, Saint Ralph, Francis of Assisi, or Simon Birch as good Christian movies.

We are treated to the world as seen from the perspective of a young druggie (Billy Crudup) who repeatedly screws up through his mixture of bungling, passivity, and choice of companions. I frequently found my interest in the narrative and the characters waning, with particular memorable scenes that made it worthwhile to keep a watch. The uniqueness of the main character's perspective is presented in scenes with a mixture of surrealism at times (along with his own narrative that he can't quite remember). This could have made for an interesting production, but at times I just found it irritating. Maybe I've just seen too many loser druggie films and the mostly pointless lives they portray to empathize with these people and their situations, in contrast to the real-life addicts I have known. The film does have its own redemptive conclusion, however, and deserves credit for being more realistic in the way it is presented than we might have anticipated. In fact, the film's clever title may just have a double meaning, with reference to the Velvet Underground song "Heroin" and a semi-spiritual theme all in one; we're all God's children. Just having seen Crudup in Almost Famous, a film made around the same time from a similar period, may have typed him for me in this kind of role, although he was a far more "succesful" character in that far better film.

If you're looking for a clean, linear story about someone who does drugs, sees the error of his ways and emerges, butterfly-like, as a model citizen, turn right around and walk back the way you came. Jesus' Son instead patches together anecdotal episodes of our amiably inept non-hero's life and acquaintances to give us a picture of a very human, very well-meaning but disconnected and directionless young man. Rather than eagerly awaiting the conclusion of the story, I often found myself mourning the brevity of many of the little segments, which are no less enjoyable alone than as part of a larger narrative.This film needs to be seen for the hospital scene alone. Without spoiling anything, Alison Maclean has assembled a beautifully disjointed array of characters - kudos has and will continue to be given for the deliciously disastrous Jack Black, who both steals the show and plays off Crudup magnificently, but the part of the reception nurse (played by Yvette Mercedes) is also brief but brilliant and deserves a mention.The acting makes this film - it's clever and human and warm, but without the necessary cast, its meandering structure may not have stood up to scrutiny. The quietly terrifying Dundun, the explosive Michelle, Denis Leary and Dennis Hopper's respective turns - all do fine credit to it.Crudup is wonderful; in his hands, the film skirts widely around the clichéd Drugs Are Bad, Mmkay ground of too many films (for every great film of that ilk - Requiem for a Dream, Basketball Diaries - there are many awful ones), and he plays FH subtly and remarkably as a essentially optimistic and wide-eyed fella whose naivety, lack of direction and dubious associations get him into frequent trouble. The structure of his narration is great in its naturalism, starting to tell one anecdote before remembering he forgot to explain something previous - and it adds great depths to his character. One can imagine FH having been the kid at school with "Must try harder" written in red across every assignment.Jesus' Son seems to have divided opinion across the board. It's certainly not for everyone but to my mind, it's one of the best and most unusual films of recent years. Ultimately, if you're prepared to sit and watch something real, terrifically funny, occasionally disorganised, and all too human - a film that eschews neat edges, Hollywood trimming and concise plot structures for a fantastically life-sized character study of someone many of us will recognise in ourselves - then I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Normally I am not a fan of drug or alcohol related movies as they tend to be a little bit protentious such as Requim for a Dream or Leaving Las Vegas.They try and say something specifically about the drug use, instead Jesus' Son tells a story about a person who just happens to take drugs.Here, like life, reality is confused and they choices we make haunt us.The main character Fuck Head is the ultimate loser. He takes drugs, only lives because his girlfriend saves his life, yet he lets her die in the same circumstance. He sees the sacred heart of Jesus on a man who tells him to go away. But ultimately he finds his own place in the world and sees beauty where others can't.This is an art-house movie, and the reason that art house movies don't turn up in mainstream cinemas is because they have limited appeal. So maybe you will hate this movie or maybe you will recognise the loser in yourself in Fuck Head. I know I did. Sure I want to be a cross between Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt with a touch of Edward Norton, but I know I am more of a Fuck Head. If you are too, watch this movie.