91. Jesus’ Son

Writer Denis Johnson’s spare, fractured prose was not the likeliest of sources for a film adaptation, what with its rambling, dreamy tone, but Alison Maclean’s interpretation of his collection of short stories, Jesus’ Son, resulted in one of the most haunting, lyrical films of recent years. Jesus’ Son is the story of F.H. (“Fuck Head”), a listless drug addict with a penchant for charming bewilderment and a knack for turning every situation into a complete and utter disaster (hence the name). Billy Crudup is wonderfully droll and comical as F.H., and Samantha Morton grants his girlfriend, Michelle, an air of intense solitude and vulnerability. The pair seems doomed from the start, but also sweetly in love and devoted to one another.

Despite the source material’s tricky wordplay, Maclean’s film is amazingly faithful, including its use of voiceover narration, most of which is taken directly from Johnson’s book. Jesus’ Son has a wispy, dreamlike quality throughout, matching the characters’ increasing dependence upon drugs to pass the days away. Along his road to redemption, F.H. loves and loses, but Maclean never allows his journey to slip into treacle. Instead, Jesus’ Son is imbued with pathos and regret, and the idea that no matter how low we’ve sunk, there’s always a place in the world for us. (Rick Curnutte Jr.)