The Book of Clarence

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.

The film could be argued that it deseverse a 4 or 5 based on the asking of its lead of. Lakeith Stanfield as always gives a great performance. But i couldn't help but think of life a brain. Another comedy based on the idea of a messiah opposite of Jesus Christ during the same time. This version though is just straight boring and too often just not funny at all. Stanfield is a performer whom you can't help warming to, although here, as sometimes in the past, I found myself wanting him to bring something extra in the third act, some new level of energy or anger. At the end of the day Lakeith Stanfield performance cant not save a boring comedy that is not nearly has funny as movie coming decades earlier that has the same idea.

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.

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)

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.