JESUS’ SON

 

ONE STAR - Demeaning

 

 

               To describe a person as being a descendant of Jesus would imply an unusual depth of wisdom and spirituality.  Yet who director Alison Maclean presents as “Jesus’ Son” is neither wise nor spiritual.  Instead, “Jesus’ Son” is given an obscene name, FH, that aptly describes his destructive impact on the lives of those who become his friends.

               Based on a series of short stories by Denis Johnson, the central character of this convoluted tale is a handsome old young man, whose self-destructive path and despairing thoughts create a pathetic presence on film.

               Set within the early 1970’s drug scene with its sexually immoral subculture, “Jesus’ Son” is a realistic portrayal of such barren lives.

               After meeting Michelle (Samantha Morton) at a party in a rural setting, FH (Billy Crudup) is soon consumed with the desire to be with her.  But their love relationship becomes a volatile combination of ecstasy and brutality as they endure heroin’s authority over them.

               Though there is no romanticizing of the emptiness and pain drug addiction creates, the film leaves the viewer in this nihilistic wilderness.  Though the end of the film brings in several testimonies of AA and NA meetings, the first step to these recovery programs which acknowledge the need for a Higher Power are glaringly omitted and leave even these moments of redemption as pale and empty.

               But perhaps that is the view of the creators of the film.  If their world has no spirituality, then this empty tale is simply an attempt to artistically present the suffering of a soul caught in meaningless existence.

               The other possibility is that these film-makers are attempting to create a picture of the human condition that is so bleak that it would cause viewers to reject it and seek spiritual sustenance.

               The possibility of this latter view is possible when the film presents FH’s impact on the lives of the two closest persons to him:  His lover Michelle and his friend Wayne (Denis Leary).

               Showing his relationship with Michelle as having no beneficial impact, the opposite of what one would expect of “Jesus’ Son,”  FH not only encourages her drug use, but cooperates in the abortion of their child and the eventual suicide-overdose Michelle uses as an attempt to get him to take care of her.

               In a similar manner, when FH spends the day with his friend Wayne, the end result is a drunken brawl in a bar and the use of impure dope that also costs Wayne his life.

               Rather than bringing healing to sick and sight to the blind or causing the dead to rise, as is the impact on those with whom Jesus shares his life, FH leaves in his wake the broken and lifeless shells of those unfortunate enough to have traveled with him.

               This fact is shown in parabolic form when FH and another friend accidentally hit a rabbit on a rural highway.  Finding the rabbit to be pregnant, they rescue the unborn babies and FH is given responsibility to protect them.  But due to both their drug-impaired thinking and the destruction FH causes, he lets them fall behind him in the pickup seat and sits on them.  It is at their death that FH cries for the first time over any destruction he has caused.

               “Jesus’ Son” is a demeaning tale told with few artistic sensitivities.  That it portrays lives that leave destruction rather than resurrection in their wake is a fact that makes this film the most cynically titled film we’ve seen.

              

(words: 582)

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