First off, I must say that I'm a bit biased simply because I'm a fan of the book. I actually had know idea there was ever a movie made for Jesus' Son. I was describing the story "Emergency" to my girlfriend one day and she said, "That sounds a lot like this movie I saw with Jack Black and Billy Cruddup." Much to my surprise, we were talking about the same story...To me the book is about survivors. No matter how much you have destroyed things in your life, or no matter how badly things have turned out, you can still turn it all around. That was that message I used to get from the book, and I think the movie evokes this same feeling. Brilliant acting, beautiful soundtrack, and powerful stories... The scene with Samantha Morton dancing to "Sweet Pea" is one of my favorite scenes ever.If you're squeamish or turned off towards drug culture stories, Jesus' Son is definitely not for you. However, I would suggest both the book and the movie to just about anyone.

Contains Spoiler--- Highly recommended, dark, realistic depiction of what we call the "drug culture" After you've seen it, read my review:I Just saw the movie on the IFC. Incredibly powerful and affecting. I am a middle class retiree who never lived the life described, yet came close enough to have empathy for the characters. If the film had flaws, they only made it more realistic. We all have flaws. We do not think or live our lives linearly. We all mostly stumble through, only learning vital things too late. Just as poor FH only learned that Michelle has written a note asking to be saved if he loved her--- too late.I would not want, nor do I have the expertise, to analyze this film based on cinematic criteria. The film started with an idea, someone had something to say, each participant-- director, actor, editor, passed that idea along, cleanly and precisely. Every cinematic technique served this advancement of the expression The metaphysical surreal elements didn't seem like an affectation, but worked to express the idea.Emblematic of the tone was after the abortion when FH asked, "what did they stick up you." Michelle's reaction. Her scream. She could have handled the intrusion into her body, the loss of a living being that could have been her child, but the coldness, the rejection of her beloved, was a cause for anguish, expressed perfectly in a primordial cry.And certain lines, as throwaways easy missed, were profound. FH's statement that he didn't even feel the holy water that the abortion opponents threw at him until many years later. The very disorganization and fragmented emotions presaged the awesome decision to end a life. Shallow loser slacker--I think not.In sharing my responses to this film I feel limited by the set of values imposed on artistic endeavor such as this. We search for criteria of excellence of a genre, that others can strive for. We want to see how this work matches up against such criteria. I would rather believe that this was a personal message from someone. And to that person, I just want to say, "Thank you."

My 9th grade son heard at school, from a classmate and from a teacher, that this was a good movie. So we rented it, and watched it. It is a complete waste of time. The only positive thing I can say about this movie is that it impressed upon my son how drugs waste your life. But he already knew that. I think he thought this movie would be comedic, similarly with Napolean Dynamite, but there is nothing comedic about this movie. And the characters are so completely worthless that you never develop an affinity for any of them -- you really don't care what happens to them. They are trashy people, living trashy lives, and this movie about them is nothing but trash.

I enjoyed this, it's different. The plot is non-linear, but that doesn't really matter. It contains scenes that may disturb, but for one reason or another, I forgot to be disturbed. The acting is very good, I don't think I'd ever seen a Billy Crudup film before, and came away with a new name to search for. The soundtrack is excellent, the humour is odd, but it's the supporting cast which make the film; the cameo's are all spot on. I dislike Denis Leary, but he's good here, I wasn't a particularly big fan of JB Jack Black either, but he shines here and I saw him in a new light.Low budget, sure, more films could do with the charm of this one, it tries to do something different, and I think it's a winner.