The Book of Clarence

Before I go negative, I have to give major props to LaKeith Stanfield. His performances are always convincing. And this is no exception. He kills it. I said wow multiple times. I think he's reached star status. The rest of the cast does a good job as well.

As for the movie overall, it's not actively bad in any way. A lot of it just feels off. The story is a bit clunky. Some of the jokes land while others don't. I'm not really attached to any characters other than the lead.

I just wasn't into it. I wasn't engaged and I had difficulty getting through it. Maybe it's just not for me.

I look forward to LaKeith's next project.

(1 viewing, 2/6/2024)

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!

This film is very multi layered that many will miss the point of the movie.

One way to see this is a satire on people, particularly black people with little to no faith in God, and how they move in the world.

It's then a satire on how religion is exploited for one's personal gain. Think of many mega churches who look to prophesies on Jesus teachings and miracles.

Its then finally a satire on how people who we deem "unworthy" and how their soul is just as much worthy than everyone else's.

Intermixed in there is the relationship between the Judeans and the Roman's as an allegory between police/authority and the people they govern. Which may or may not have been somewhat factual since it has been proven that the people there would have been people of color. It may also give an introspection on why Jesus was hated by the Jews so much. But I digress.

I'd say give this film a second chance with these points, and you might find this movie a bit more favorable.

Oh and I love that Last Supper shot they had when they froze in place, that was dope.

This movie was an interesting take on making a camp, religious mix. Lakeith was incredible (obviously), especially toward the end as the film grew more emotional. Omar Sy was also a phenom as a stoic side character.

Many jokes landed, but the script did not. Many of the female characters were quite one dimensional (although that may be due to the time period of it). Some of the allegories the film attempted to make were forced. The slapstick comedy with religion was pretty clever, but it didn't make up for a lot of the unexplained hijinks throughout the film. Although, it did make some great, hilarious use of both McAvoy and Cumberbatch in some minor yet great roles. Jeymes Samuel certainly has unique visions and a place in the future of filmmaking, but for me, this one fell a little short.

The Book Of Clarence might not be for everyone. It does reimagine a few things from the Bible and tells it from another point of view. This however might upset some who think this is being a mockery of religion as it's certainly far from that. In fact after watching this if you think it is saying something bad about religion you weren't really paying attention to the film. LaKeith Stanfield does a great job here playing our lead Clarence. The rest of the supporting cast is also terrific as well. Jeymes Samuel is in the Directing chair and he knows the type of film he is trying to make here. Coming off a strong film with The Harder They Fall, Jeymes does another strong job. My only complaint is I wish a little bit more was going on toward the middle of the film as it does start to drag on just a tad. Also the music selection was hit and miss as well. Overall I feel The Book of Clarence is going to become a cult classic when the dust settles. The Book of Clarence gets a solid 8 stars out of 10 from me.