This was a strange little movie that got poor reviews and normally wouldn't have been something that would have interested me....but I liked it. It had one basic message: committing suicide is not the answer. Can't argue with that!Strange characters abound in this dark comedy-drama as Christian Slater passes through a small town of curious inhabitants. I liked his narration and many of the characters in here.The only thing I didn't like was yet another cheap shot at a minister (how many times have I seen this?). In this film, the minister tells his congregation he doesn't believe in God. Then the filmmakers make him out to be a great guy that we all like. The atheists in Hollywood just never cease in their anti-God propaganda.Too bad, because the rest of the film is very likable and I enjoyed it, including the cinematography. Since this was a "one-joke story," they were smart enough to keep this short at 80 minutes.

I think that the reason that Julian's past was not reflected was because they want people to relate. For example, If julian was going to kill himself because he...I don't know, let's say, killed his sister and was on the run, we wouldn't be able to relate to that because we've, hopefully, have never done such a thing.Instead, they chose to keep Julian's past unknown, so when he states that he is going to kill himself, we can all relate, because, and lets all admit, we have thought about it before. They want us to use our imaginations (and for some of you, this may be hard) as to what his past consisted of, because they want us to relate to this movie in one way or another and say "oh, I can understand what he feels, I've been there too."I also think that there was alot of symbolism. The townspeople saw the comming of Julian as somethink particular and strange when he first arrived, but when they found out that he was going to kill himself, they saw this as an opportunity to help a human being, hence the fact that they gave him several gifts and attention. But when he chose not to kill himself, the town felt taken for their good nature; they gave to him, trying to make his last days meaningful and with kind people, however expecting him to later take his own life. This, I think, is the meaning of the movie.

I really, really wanted to like Julian Po. I think that Slater is underrated as an actor, and that many of the supporting players here are better than they are given a chance to demonstrate in this film. I realize this is based on a short story which I have not read. So, I do not know if what I see as the film's faults originated with the story, or were imposed on it by the director/screenwriter. The premise is wonderful, and I loved the voiceover, confessional tone the opening narration strikes. But then...? Nothing! Several of the cliched local characters ask Julian pointblank to explain his intention to commit suicide. One could argue that he doesn't answer, because it's none of their business. But Julian is the one who, under only token pressure, blurted out his intentions in public. Then neither Julian nor the director/writer, despite the fact that the Julian character is keeping a tape recorded journal for God's sake, seem inclined to provide anything beyond the scant initial information on Julian's life. He says he was a bookkeeper. He says his family moved around when he was a child, due to his father's job. So what? There are several interactions with the locals which seem designed to illuminate Julian's purpose. But none of them go anywhere, because Julian seems to regard all these dopey locals as if they were aliens from another planet, as if he were the ultimate (and only) sane one among them. This might work as an allegory, if Julian Po had any defining characteristics or anything approaching wisdom to impart. The closest he comes to revealing anything about himself is in the scene in which he purposely humiliates the naive, religious wife of the mechanic. And what this scene reveals is not anything that would inspire empathy for Julian. I can only see the Julian character --as rendered--as selfish, petty, and totally condescending. Sort of matches the attitude of the director of this half-baked, contrived film. And poor Michael Parks, an actor who once had so much promise, is given nothing to work with here.

Julian Po is a film that I hadn't heard of until a casual channel surf stumbled me onto HBO. I was hooked immediately. The characters in this town are so unbelievably strange and almost creepy. Julian (Christian Slater) is a wanderer, narrating his own story, who goes to a small town in order to end his life. When the townspeople find out, it becomes a sort of obsession with them. The children follow him through the streets, he's offered gifts from shop owners, and a beautiful, intense woman, Sarah, (Robin Tunney) falls in love with him, creating a very karmic bond between the two of them. Ironically, in the course of his procrastinating his death, he changes the lives of everyone around him. They ask him for advice in life matters. A man "comes out of the closet", a Priest denounces God, etc..Julian Po left me sad. It doesn't end the way anyone would think, but it left me with one recurrent theme running through my head. Life is a beautiful thing, not to be taken for granted. Never make life or death decisions when you haven't even experienced life. And maybe one more thing... a real man sticks to his obligations... :-)