Instant Favorite.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

"Julian Po" can be described as a darkly comedic drama with romantic undertones. Mostly, though, "Julian Po" is just strange.The film stars Christian Slater in the title role and, in terms of a very basic plot, somewhat resembles Hal Hartley's "Henry Fool." Like Henry, Julian wanders into an unnamed town and turns its residents' lives into a frenzy. However, unlike the joyfully arrogant Mr. Fool, Julian is glum, mysterious, and basically wants to stay anonymous. A 30-year-old bookkeeper, he apparently was on his way to the sea when his car broke down, and he decided to stop in the little town. He checks into a broken-down hotel and immediately his presence strikes up curiosity in the weirdo townspeople. Thanks to the redneck-ish hotel manager ... the town mayor, his wife, the sheriff, the priest, etc. are all soon aware of Julian. They are also very suspicious of him! Some of them think he's a drug dealer, and the mayor's wife also convinces many of them that Julian is some sort of serial killer and has come to their town to kill again. Finally, they confront Julian in a restaurant, bombarding him with questions and demanding to know why he is there. Julian blurts out his answer; he did in fact come to the town to kill somebody ... himself.This is where the movie gets really odd. All of a sudden, the townspeople are fascinated by Julian! They start stopping by his hotel room to chat and bring gifts. They confide their darkest secrets; they also come to Julian for advice, and take what he tells them to heart. A whole bunch of the townspeople, led by a gang of young boys, literally follow him around everywhere. The hotel manager presents him with a gun to do the deed, and an old woman even starts taking bets on which day Julian will "off" himself!Julian is baffled by this, and vaguely annoyed, but mostly he humors the townsoddballs. And when a pretty young woman named Sarah comes to his hotel room, tells Julian she has been waiting for him all her life, and starts kissing him ... he's thrilled. (*spoiler alert*)Unfortunately, Julian's relationship with Sarah leads her to take her own life, as some kind of love proclamation. The townsfolk aren't happy with this; as a result, they more or less force Julian to do what he came to do.Quirky as that story might sound, surprisingly "Julian Po" works. I've seen the film a few times now, and it's one of those movies I like a little more with each viewing. Writer-director Alan Wade succeeds at both of his jobs, particularly with his offbeat script. And Patrick Williams' score is lovely, haunting, and effective. However, the strongest of "Julian Po"'s assets are its characters -- and the talented cast that brings these characters to life. Christian Slater is fabulous as Julian! Tunney brings a nice intensity to her portrayal of the sweater-knitting Sarah. Also noteworthy, in smaller roles, are: Cherry Jones as the hotel manager's mute housekeeper sister who may or may not have a crush on Julian (though her inquisitive eyes and perpetual frown might bug some at first); Allison Janney as the gossipy, busybody mayor's wife, Lilah Leech; Jeremy Jordan as Bobby, a mechanic who wants to be a movie star -- despite the fact that he says "Are you talking' to me?!" in the same tone he says everything else; Dina Spybey as Bobby's mousy blonde wife, who pledges to do anything for Julian; and Zeljko Ivanek as the men's clothing store owner -- who confesses to Julian his crush on Leon, the town sheriff. Many members of this cast are staples on Broadway, and that shows in their performances. ("Julian Po" is in fact very play-like.) I must also give mention to young Io Tillett Wright. Miss Wright is a girl, but if I didn't happen to know that fact ... well, let's just say her portrayal of a boy named Walter makes Hilary Swank in "Boys Don't Cry" look like the girliest icon of femininity. Wright looks like a boy, walks like a boy, talks like a boy. I guess it's a testament to Wright's acting skills, but it did make me wonder -- why not just cast a boy? There are a few things wrong with "Julian Po" that make me unable to rate it higher than I did. One big problem I had with the movie was its portrayal of the town pastor. At first, he is just kind of overearnest. Later on, though, a talk with Julian leads to a sermon in which the pastor announces, with great zeal, that he doesn't believe in God. This is yet another similarity the film shares with "Henry Fool" ... but at least in 'Henry' the pastor was more of a doubter ... and not an out-and-out goon like the pastor in this movie. Granted, almost everybody in "Julian Po" is a goon -- but, still, I do get tired of almost all religious characters in movies being played as evil or foolish. It's so unoriginal. Religion does not always make someone a bad guy.But my other gripes about "Julian Po" are mostly minor...e.g. the film takes awhile to get into. Overall, if you're a fan of small quirky movies, "Julian Po" is worth checking out. And if you don't like it at first, give it another chance...it just might grow on you.

This is the kind of film you can only sit through after midnight whilst flicking incoherently through the channels. That is how i came upon such a strange film, one which i could not stop watching, despite the efforts of the oncoming dawn light telling me to. Slater plays his role very well as the confused outsider, a role that the audience can only find themselves joining him in, and Tunney's performance as the attractive girl who wants to run away from home is also well performed. All in all, this is a good film to sit through only if you are in an open minded mood, if you are feeling at all skeptical, leave it on the shelf.

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.

I've only seen this movie once, so my interpretation might be a little off, but it seemed to me to be an allegory of the price of fame, how famous people, in American popular culture in particular, are often driven to suicide. Of course there are a few holes in my theory: Julian never sought fame himself, but the relentless media attention (the group of children who followed him around), the riches and free stuff he received, and the boredom of a small town (representing America in general) has nothing better to do than make a celebrity out of an ordinary person. And finally, the callousness of the people when they drive him to suicide sums up the allegory.Forgive my interpretation if it's wrong... but those were just my ideas.