Considering all the talent in the cast, the director, and the writer, this movie is a waste of time. I suspect Paul Schrader agreed to direct in order to finance the movie of 1997 he really cared about, Affliction. Elmore Leonard wrote the original story but Schrader, clearly going through the motions, wrote the screenplay and directed.
There is none of the grit or passion of his other works like Blue Collar, Light Sleeper, AutoFocus, or even Cat People. The premise of the movie - a twentysomething pretty boy who may or may not have the healing powers of Jesus, is stale. The extremely talented cast just looks bewildered and stiff. I never thought I'd see a dull performance by Christopher Walken, but here it is. The best thing about his performance is his (brief) reunion with his Dead Zone co-star, Anthony Zerbe.
Tom Arnold still thinks he's in True Lies or Nine Months but fares a little better as the leader of a questionable right wing religious movement. Actually the best performance in the film probably comes from Skeet Ulrich, hot property after playing the psychopath in Wes Craven's Scream, as the aforementioned pretty boy Jesus. You can almost hear the conversations between Schrader and studio heads while making the movie..."This is getting boring. Paul, can you call some of your buddies and get them into throwaway parts?" So enter Paul Mazursky, musician John Doe, Janeane Garofalo...
At least it's a short movie - something to watch out of curiosity. But don't expect bonafide Schrader.
There is none of the grit or passion of his other works like Blue Collar, Light Sleeper, AutoFocus, or even Cat People. The premise of the movie - a twentysomething pretty boy who may or may not have the healing powers of Jesus, is stale. The extremely talented cast just looks bewildered and stiff. I never thought I'd see a dull performance by Christopher Walken, but here it is. The best thing about his performance is his (brief) reunion with his Dead Zone co-star, Anthony Zerbe.
Tom Arnold still thinks he's in True Lies or Nine Months but fares a little better as the leader of a questionable right wing religious movement. Actually the best performance in the film probably comes from Skeet Ulrich, hot property after playing the psychopath in Wes Craven's Scream, as the aforementioned pretty boy Jesus. You can almost hear the conversations between Schrader and studio heads while making the movie..."This is getting boring. Paul, can you call some of your buddies and get them into throwaway parts?" So enter Paul Mazursky, musician John Doe, Janeane Garofalo...
At least it's a short movie - something to watch out of curiosity. But don't expect bonafide Schrader.