# Jesus' Son (1999)

### reviewed by
Jon Popick

PLANET SICK-BOY: http://www.sick-boy.com

Would you get into a car that you knew was going to be in a horrific accident? Unless you're a character from David Cronenberg's Crash, the answer is probably no. But in Jesus' Son, FH has no problem making this decision. Hitchhiking, he accepts a ride from a nice family in an Oldsmobile, waits for the crash and, afterwards, hangs around at the hospital long enough to hear the mother's sickening screams.

FH (Billy Crudup, Without Limits) obviously isn't your ordinary guy. His name, an abbreviation for `F--- Head', was given to him because he constantly screws things up, especially when he tries to help people. But who is FH? Is he an angel? Is he really Jesus' son, or did he just listen to Velvet Underground's Heroin too many times? Perhaps he's just a delusional junkie. FH says that he knows everything before it happens and even knows the names of each raindrop. But it's hard to tell if he can really peer into the future, or if the drugs are making him think he can.

Jesus' Son follows the adventures of FH during his drug-and-alcohol-hazed travels throughout the ‘70s. Beginning in Iowa City and culminating in an Arizona nursing home, FH staggers throughout the country searching for everything, yet, at the same time, nothing in particular. He meets strange people, finds strange lines of work, and continually crosses paths with a woman named Michelle (Samantha Morton, Sweet & Lowdown) that FH feels is his soulmate. The couple often gets together for weekends of sex and drugs that dissolve into screaming fights.

The surreal film seems to lack a cohesive plot, partially due to the fact that it's based on a collection of short stories written by Denis Johnson. I'm not sure if the tales in Johnson's book are as unrelated as they appear here (it was adapted by three novice screenwriters), but the film isn't really presented in a way that emphasizes separate stories, resulting in a jumble of characters that you expect to jump back into the story but never do. There are only three constants – FH, Michelle and the drugs.

Eerily resembling Kurt Cobain in both appearance and lethargic demeanor, Crudup delivers a fine follow-up to his underrated turn as Steve Prefontaine in last year's widely overlooked film Without Limits. His FH, who also narrates the movie, has eyes that look haunted and lost, yet totally aware and ominiscient, which almost convinces you that he does have some type of special healing power. But like any decent film that revolves around drug use (Drugstore Cowboy, Rush), it's hard to decipher what's real as FH's hallucinations blend seamlessly into reality. Hell, one time I hit my thumb with a hammer so hard that I thought I saw a leprechaun.

Directed by Alison Maclean (Crush), Jesus' Son offers a ton of great ‘70s songs and some fine supporting roles (namely Denis Leary, Holly Hunter, Will Patton and Jack Black). But the finest part of the film is perhaps the utterly believable appearance of FH and Michelle. These two are simply disgusting. The only time either of them got anywhere near soap is when FH nearly overdosed and Michelle dragged him into a cold shower hoping to revive him. You could almost smell the stench of body odor in the theater (or maybe it was that guy next to me).

1:49 - R for graphic drug use, adult language, nudity and graphic violence

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