Jesus' Son (1999)

A Beautiful Mess
This movie has a number of things going against it, principally its utter lack of anything resembling a plot... although given its source material (11 disjointed short stories), this is hardly surprising.

So why is it so eminently watchable? Billy Crudup may be easy on the eyes, but good looks alone don't explain how he brilliantly exposes the gentle, goofy heart of his character... there are no inner demons here, just the fundamental personality flaw of a man so erratic, even his junky friends call him "f***head."

Lots of cameos to enjoy herein as well, including a somewhat frightening Jack Black.

I love this movie
A great film. Funny, smart, and heartbreaking at times. The story is basically the life of a junkie, but it that reveals that in every person, in every human life there can be moments, either sad or happy, of true beauty. If you really like it, try reading the book. It's beautifully written, and some of the lines you'll recognize in the movie. By the way, Billy Crudup is an awesome actor.

A mess.
Jesus' Son (Alison MacLean, 1999)

I don't like Billy Crudup. I've never been overly fond of Samantha Morton. And I have yet to see a Jack Black movie that didn't make me want to claw my eyes out. So what on Earth possessed me to think that there would be any chance at all that I'd like Alison MacLean's Jesus' Son, which features all three of them, along with a host of cameos (most of which, actually, are from actors well worth watching)? I'm not sure, but I should have known better.

Crudup plays [censored] (yes, that's the name we know him by the movie), who gets involved with Michelle (Morton), and the story (using the term loosely) follows the two of them through the ups and downs of their relationship. Neither is a very likeable character; in fact, the both of them are rather disgusting throughout. Michelle gets [him] involved with drugs, and, since that's the way it absolutely must happen in Hollywood, [he] gets hooked and immediately begins a life of crime, then the two try to clean up their act when Michelle becomes pregnant, then we finally circle back to the opening scene, where [he] is hitchhiking his way across the country to track down a lead on Michelle... yeah, it's kind of complicated, more so because it's told in impressionist fashion. Minor characters come and go from the script with nary a wave or a nod; we're simply on to the next story. The end, I assume, is supposed to be an ambiguous attempt at redemption, but by the time we've gone through two hours of being around these rather braindead characters, can we trust anyone? More importantly, do we care? **