Jesus’ Son

In this independent drama, a young man tries to find himself in the early 1970s as he wades through a swamp of heroin addiction. FH (Billy Crudup) is a well-intentioned but weak-willed man whose propensity for messing up his life has earned him his nickname, short for “F–khead.” FH’s problems with drugs begin in earnest when he falls in love with Michelle (Samantha Morton), a beautiful but emotionally unsettled woman addicted to heroin. FH soon finds himself drawn to the needle, and the couple drifts from one incident to the next, some funny and some horrifying. Michelle rescues FH from overdoses on a few occasions, although their friend Wayne (Denis Leary) isn’t so lucky. After a few years, Michelle becomes pregnant and has an abortion in Chicago shortly before leaving FH and journeying to Mexico. While heading South in hopes of finding her, FH falls into a relationship with an older woman, Mira (Holly Hunter), and becomes involved in an auto wreck; his brush with death, and the opportunity to save a child’s life, lead him into rehab and a chance to straighten out his life. The American debut from New Zealand director Alison Maclean and based on the novel by Denis Johnson, Jesus’ Son also features Dennis Hopper, Will Patton, and Jack Black., gentle and usually mellow young man, who sometimes knows things before they happen and gets vibes of premonition, tell us his story of how he met Michelle in Iowa in 1971, how he got the name Fuckhead, how she introduced him to heroin and their falling in love, his thieving, his hospital work and their time in Chicago when she gets pregnant, detox, going to P Phoenix to live, AA meetings and a dance, working at a care center where he learns to touch the residents, and modifying his daily schedule so that he passes a neighboring Mennonite household at the right time to hear the wife sing Gospel songs in the shower. Slowly, very slowly, FH lets his gifts emerge. Alison Maclean was awarded with both the Little Golden Lion and Ocicat Award at The Venice Film Festival in 1999., Billy Crudup shines in this edgy and subtly humored character study as a drug-riddled wanderer who takes a soul-searching voyage to kick his habit in the early 1970s. On his road to recovery, he finds romance with a strung-out woman (Samantha Morton) and encounters a slew of colorful characters. Denis Leary, Holly Hunter, Dennis Hopper, Jack Black., Alison MacLean’s delightful first American film is the story of drugged up FH (Billy Crudup) and his picaresque journey through the ’70s (or at least, those he remembers) with girlfriend Michelle (Samantha Morton). Along the way, they hook up with Wayne (Denis Leary), who offers him work, John Smith (Will Patton), who tries to lure Michelle away and Mira (Holly Hunter) who seems to have a strange effect on husbands and boyfriends – they keep dying., Alison MacLean’s delightful first American film is the story of drugged up FH (Billy Crudup) and his picaresque journey through the ’70s (or at least, those he remembers) with girlfriend Michelle (Samantha Morton). Along the way, they hook up with Wayne, who offers him work, John Smith, who tries to lure Michelle away and Mira, who seems to have a strange effect on husbands and boyfriends – they keep dying. Full of dry wit, rounded characters and weird situations, this is a much more satisfying film than the subject matter suggests with Crudup, who can soon be seen in FilmFour’s forthcoming release Charlotte Gray, turning in his breakthrough performance., A tattered druggie encounters a slew of colourful characters while taking a soul-searching voyage in the early 1970s., A gentle young man who receives premonitions tells his story; a tale of drugs, love and recovery. This young man turns from drug addiction and petty crime to a life redeemed by the discovery of compassion, finally letting his gifts emerge.