On the Road with Judas

I saw On The Road With Judas in Phoenix a few weeks ago and have been transfixed on this film ever since. Everything about it is completely mesmerizing... The multiple planes of reality are constantly toying with the viewers perception of what is happening on screen, what is implied as "reality" and the meta-reality of the film's world...Definitely warrants multiple views.

I happened to catch this while the filmmakers/distributors were touring it around the country this Fall and fell in love! It is definitely a challenging film, and I can see why it hasn't gotten a very wide release, even despite the great cast, many of which are well-known actors (I LOVE Kevin Corrigan!), however, if you liked Eternal Sunshine, even Synecdoche, NY, you should certainly check this one out, the non-linear, meta-narrative is prevalent!

If nothing else, this movie has the timeless appeal of a classic con-man story. The two kleptomaniac main characters are excellent in their extra-curricular pursuits of collegiate artifacts ranging fro faculty Apple computers to rare art pieces adorning scholastic hallways…They are hilariously casual in their thievery!

Highly recommend you seek this one out, it's on Netflix… I picked up a copy of the DVD at the screening and have already revisited it a number of times and it just keeps getting better. There should be more films like this out there!

Buffet of excellence in movie making perhaps.

I saw this film in Columbia, MO and I honestly have to say that it's one of the most innovative independent films to come out in the past few years.

It's a beautifully crafted narrative that is overflowing with young talent. It seems like a really complex, trying-too-hard independent film, but it couldn't be further from that. It's actually a fun-loving hip comedy for the most part, with a solid love story going under the current.

It's reassuring that movies like this are still made. Movies that are this brave and unflinching in their vision are few and far between so you better see this while it's out since it will be a while until another movie like this comes out.

Just watched a Sundance showing with an appreciative audience, On Jan 23rd in Park City. The theater was crowded with a 20 something crowd eager for something different. What they got was a confusing but compelling work which blends documentary style with dramatic insight. Touching, funny and twisted themes will keep the audience puzzled but engaged. The author and director JJ Lask has taken his well received book and created a screen play that works well in the Sundance arena but may be difficult to sell to a broader audience. Great performances, original writing and editing make this otherwise hard to watch film worth the effort. The score was dense with original and contemporary work.

Although this is not a movie that is eager to please it's audiance, it is one who is looking to take them for a ride. In a cookie cuter world this is far from a hit. But it is a movie I will never forget. From those moments that made me cringe by how familiar some emotions were to those whomade me wonder what could have bin. I love this movie not in my top pic pics of all times but one I always look forward to re watching. Just like un rincon cercas del cielo

Oh how I haaated this movie for the first half hour! It begins with a mishmash of unrelated scenes, half a dozen actors switching roles without warning, and lots of mumbling non-sequitur banter that could've been the rejected lines from Pulp Fiction.

That's not what made me hate it, though. What made me hate it was the idea that the director seemed to be trying too hard for that "indie" feel: using lots of random, quirky images for the sake of being random and quirky. I swear I came this close to going home and watching reruns of The Partridge Family instead.

But somewhere after the half hour mark, a story starts to emerge. Several stories, actually. "On the Road with Judas" teases us with a crime story, a love story, a tale of friendship betrayal, and of course the story of a man who is rapidly losing his grip of reality. It is ultimately the last story that shines and makes this a great film.

The plot is basically irrelevant so I won't bother talking about that. Instead this becomes a film of philosophical depth, attacking the question of reality vs. fiction (truth vs. intentions) and the infinite conflict that falls on the poor sap who's in charge of it all.

If you've seen the excellent film "Synecdoche NY" which came out several months after "On the Road with Judas", you'll definitely notice many parallels between the two. Both films tell the story of a writer who is attempting to write about his own life as it happens. As real life and written pages become intertwined, the task becomes impossible, confusing, maddening.

Mixing reality and fiction in a film is tough for a filmmaker to do without totally losing the audience (which I think may have happened here, judging by IMDb's low rating of 4.3). Certainly it requires a lot more audience effort than your standard linear storyline. But many films have pulled it off, notably: "Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story", "American Splendor", "Beyond the Sea", "The Science of Sleep" and the aforementioned "Synecdoche NY". "On the Road with Judas" fits right in with the rest as a challenging yet ultimately rewarding experience for people who can bend their perceptions of reality. The ending is classic.

A final word about the soundtrack: nice! Being set in 1991-1993, the film features some interesting versions of songs by Depeche Mode "Enjoy the Silence", Modern English "Melt with You", and others plus some very nice classical sonatas such as Debussy's "Claire the Lune".

Overall, this is a very deep and powerful movie disguised as a "fun romp" (or whatever the dumb DVD cover says). If you can make it past the first half hour, I think you'll really enjoy it.