Truly Dreadful Film

Good concept, poorly executed.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

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."

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.

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.

This movie is better than the Olsen twin's latest effort, I'll give it that.Why would anyone want to watch (direct, act in, write, or even be the caterer on the set of...) a movie that follows a character that is, quite possibly, the dumbest person I've seen on film. The story - or lack thereof - is poorly written and just sort of wanders from one scene to the next, with no real meaningful sequence. The narrator is a burnout so, Surprise!, the story is told nonsequentially with him backtracking to fill in holes and blah blah blah. I'm getting so sick of the Post-Pulp Fiction Rip-offathon. Tarantino does it well, Fernando Meirelles did it well in City of God, but this is just another quasi-hip movie that has no plot and follows down-and-burntout fools that have no real insight on anything (even drug use) with a tired message. So there's another person out there that thinks drug addiction takes a devastating toll on an individual's life. What an effing surprise. He didn't even get his point across that well. The friend I watched it with didn't even think it had a message and thought argued with me (though he quickly gave up) that this movie wasn't showing the terrible toll heroin addiction took on FH's life. This movie had little to no effect on me, even though I did catch the message- I wanted to do drugs way worse after watching this movie than I did after watching Requiem for a Dream, Trainspotting, or Basketball Diaries. Mainly because I was bored out of my mind. This movie uses cheap tricks to make you think you're feeling something. I didn't care much for the characters, but I wouldn't wish some of this stuff on my worst enemy. Any abortion scene or a scene in an old-folks home full of deformed, disabled, and forgotten people is going to make your insides twinge no matter how much (or little) you care about the characters. Sorry dudes, this movie sucks. Anyone who says otherwise is probably one of these people that tells you about a drug reference in a movie before they tell you anything else. Most Potheads and drug-users (and I use these terms with affection because I am of both persuasions) like any movie with any sort of drug reference- and if all you're looking for is drugs on screen than I guess you should watch this movie. Sum it up: Watch Requiem instead. Very similar MO's but Requiem was much more impressive. PS- It would be unfair of me not to mention how funny Jack Black is in this movie. The movie sucks, but he sure is funny in it.