The Book of Clarence

Clarence, a non-believer in the messiah Jesus and a debtor, is willing to do anything for the woman he loves and his mother. With the deadline for his debt fast approaching, Clarence decides to do something drastic. Clarence declares himself a messiah and travels around Jerusalem, spreading his word of knowledge and performing "miracles." The possible conflict with the Romans and God comes with the success of being a messiah.

This film is part satire, part Biblical re-enactment, and part alternate history. The satire comes from applying modern ideas, concepts, and solutions in ancient times. The Biblical re-enactment comes from many of the people from the Bible are characters in this movie and are portrayed the same way. The alternate history take is how Jesus is shown compared to other Biblical films. The movie has comedy, morality, drama, spirituality, and aspects of Christianity. The movie is broken up into parts and is a good length. This is a decent watch for anyone willing to approach history, religion, and spirituality with an open mind.

I felt like there was a lot going on while watching the film. The film started out strong with its Book 1. I loved how established the story is from the beginning. It was even funny to watch the characters so casually in such an ancient and medieval setting. Even the biblical references were coolly represented. But then I felt the story went spiraling down towards the end. It was not a linear kind of plot. It was multi-faceted, and I wish it was not. I would have toned down the film to a more simplistic plot and less runtime. But I must say this was LaKeith Stanfield's best performance to date.

When I saw that Samuel was following up The Harder They Fall with a Black Biblical satire, I got pretty excited. I actually don't mind sacrilege or reinterpretation. Life of Brian? Blessed are the cheesemakers. Last Temptation of Christ? Other than Keitel's accent, I was onboard. Anyway, the problem with this one isn't the religious satire. It's that it tries to succeed at a few too many things. It wants to be an effective satire, drama, and romance all at once. It is hard enough to make a movie like Leap of Faith that cuts across all those genres, but doing it with a story that takes place at the time of Jesus might be just a bit too ambitious. In order to make everything work, the movie rushes through multiple genres (sometimes in a single scene) trying to fit it all in. As a result, the cast nails it and Samuel directs it well...but I still never quite settled in enough to care.

I am uncertain of the causes of the mid-line ratings for this film. Regardless of your religious outlook, I found this to be insightful, thought-provoking, and appealing to younger generations. Yes, there are points of humor added for entertainment, but the meaning behind the entire film is beautiful. Historians have confirmed there were several who claimed themselves the Messiah to profit. This movie shows one of these accounts and the realistic reactions and actions that likely had been experienced during the time. It's skepticism, mockery, experience, admission, and faith.

Though it's clear creative liberties were taken, the message is consistent and clear; no matter your belief system, these messages can be applied to all walks of life. The poignant moments of commentary regarding the disparaged to those who have, the evolution of morality, and the powerless to the powerful is formed in a way that is palatable for most with an open mind who view this movie as a time to expand your limitations and are open to discussion.

Also-- the soundtrack is fire!

I literally just made an IMDb account just now so I could leave a positive review of this film. It definitely deserves it. A fun ride of a non believer who slowly learns lessons through God he didn't know he needed. The music is also so nice. The ending was pretty perfect to me. Don't want to spoil things! Lakeithe Stanfield 100% deserves Oscar buzz for his performance. He made me laugh, think deeply and cry within this movie. There aren't many movies I can say that about. I saw it a week ago and I still am thinking of his character arc. To anyone that's said it's blasphemous and hasn't watched the movie, I assure you, this movie is great, it's not making fun or Jesus in any way. You watch and you will understand!