IMDb RATING
6.9/10
7.6K
YOUR RATING
A young man, often high on drugs and alcohol, careens through life and makes his way toward recovery and redemption.A young man, often high on drugs and alcohol, careens through life and makes his way toward recovery and redemption.A young man, often high on drugs and alcohol, careens through life and makes his way toward recovery and redemption.
- Awards
- 4 wins & 7 nominations
Brooke Rachel Shive
- Beatle
- (as Brooke Shive)
Michael Shannon
- Dundun
- (as Mike Shannon)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe movie's title comes from a line in the Velvet Underground song "Heroin".
- GoofsAccording to the director and screenwriter, many continuity mistakes were intentional. FH misremembers the stories each time he tells them and so there are intentional differences inserted when shots reappear in the film.
- Quotes
E.R. Nurse: Patient complains of knife in head.
FH: Stabbing headache?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Siskel & Ebert: Double Jeopardy/Jakob the Liar/Mumford (1999)
- SoundtracksSurf Buggy
Written by Dick Dale
Performed by Dick Dale & His Del-Tones (as Dick Dale and His Del Tones)
Courtesy of Dick Dale Enterprises
Featured review
This film was buried here- apart from the acclaim in 'Uncut' magazine; I didn't manage to see this 'til this year. My initial viewing was a little underwhelmed- being a fan of Johnson's book I had worked this up to impossible heights in my mind. However, on a second viewing I enjoyed the film more- the nouvelle-vague via Scorsese editing & structure seemed much better 2nd time around.
The film is closest to 'Drugstore Cowboy'- though parts such as the split-screen or the digital editing as F***head takes pills in the Emergency Room could have come from 'Requiem for a Dream'. The source stories have been extended and made more cohesive- as with the adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr's 'Last Exit to Brooklyn' by Uli Edel.
The film is wonderfully shot- a great scene is the drive-in/cemetery that plays 'Carnival of Souls' (though I thought I saw Samantha Morton caught in an almost Anton 'Depeche Mode' Corbijin style!); imagine 'Zabriskie Point' without the metaphysical masturbation...
The acting is uniformly great- Crudup & Morton are fantastic leads, while Denis Leary, Greg Germann, Holly Hunter are among the excellent supports. The short Dennis Hopper shaving scene is one of the greatest pieces of cinema I have seen in recent years; while Jack Black almost steals the film with his amusing "listen to my shoes". And Denis Johnson is great as hunting knife in eye guy. Oh and Will Patton pops up as 'John Smith'- still he was in 'The Postman', so not quite yet forgiven.
The soundtrack (chosen by Johnson) is great- Neil Young's 'Cowgirl in the Sand', Wilco's 'Airline to Heaven' & 'She's a Jar', 'Hang on Sloopy' and the great score. The highlight is Morton's gyrating dance to 'Oh Sweet Pea'- almost as great as that dance scene ripped off for 'Pulp Fiction' from Godard's 'Bande a Part'.Only quibble is- where was 'Heroin' by The Velvet Underground?
'Jesus' Son' is a touching, funny, and tender film that deserves to find an audience. There are too many great moments here- Hunter's arm waving in the air, Beverly Home, the Amish, the laundry scene, the ER scene, the rabbits roadtrip etc. Terribly depressing that mediocrity like 'Human Traffic' & 'Trainspotting' finds an audience here- but a film like this isn't allowed to (except at a few arthouse cinemas). Pity- and Alison MacLean's debut 'Crush' is also excellent; here's to possible adaptations of Denis Johnson's 'Already Dead' & 'The Name of the World'- by David Lynch and Paul Schrader respectively (hopefully)...Check out Johnson's books- as this film's use of voiceover stems right from them.
The film is closest to 'Drugstore Cowboy'- though parts such as the split-screen or the digital editing as F***head takes pills in the Emergency Room could have come from 'Requiem for a Dream'. The source stories have been extended and made more cohesive- as with the adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr's 'Last Exit to Brooklyn' by Uli Edel.
The film is wonderfully shot- a great scene is the drive-in/cemetery that plays 'Carnival of Souls' (though I thought I saw Samantha Morton caught in an almost Anton 'Depeche Mode' Corbijin style!); imagine 'Zabriskie Point' without the metaphysical masturbation...
The acting is uniformly great- Crudup & Morton are fantastic leads, while Denis Leary, Greg Germann, Holly Hunter are among the excellent supports. The short Dennis Hopper shaving scene is one of the greatest pieces of cinema I have seen in recent years; while Jack Black almost steals the film with his amusing "listen to my shoes". And Denis Johnson is great as hunting knife in eye guy. Oh and Will Patton pops up as 'John Smith'- still he was in 'The Postman', so not quite yet forgiven.
The soundtrack (chosen by Johnson) is great- Neil Young's 'Cowgirl in the Sand', Wilco's 'Airline to Heaven' & 'She's a Jar', 'Hang on Sloopy' and the great score. The highlight is Morton's gyrating dance to 'Oh Sweet Pea'- almost as great as that dance scene ripped off for 'Pulp Fiction' from Godard's 'Bande a Part'.Only quibble is- where was 'Heroin' by The Velvet Underground?
'Jesus' Son' is a touching, funny, and tender film that deserves to find an audience. There are too many great moments here- Hunter's arm waving in the air, Beverly Home, the Amish, the laundry scene, the ER scene, the rabbits roadtrip etc. Terribly depressing that mediocrity like 'Human Traffic' & 'Trainspotting' finds an audience here- but a film like this isn't allowed to (except at a few arthouse cinemas). Pity- and Alison MacLean's debut 'Crush' is also excellent; here's to possible adaptations of Denis Johnson's 'Already Dead' & 'The Name of the World'- by David Lynch and Paul Schrader respectively (hopefully)...Check out Johnson's books- as this film's use of voiceover stems right from them.
- How long is Jesus' Son?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,302,067
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $37,089
- Jun 18, 2000
- Gross worldwide
- $1,302,067
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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