USA: ACTOR BILLY CRUDUP STARS IN INDEPENDENT FILM "JESUS'S SON" BASED ON DENIS JOHNSONS SHORT STORIES

Record ID: 389765

  • Title: USA: ACTOR BILLY CRUDUP STARS IN INDEPENDENT FILM "JESUS'S SON" BASED ON DENIS JOHNSONS SHORT STORIES
  • Date: 12th June 2000
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 12, 2000) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) BILLY CRUDUP SAYING I read the book and what's brilliant about the book is it uses very simple language, very simple sentence structure, very simple paragraphs to tell these enormously complex and fascinating and fantastical things about life. It's poetic and inspiring at the same t
  • Embargoed: 27th June 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, US AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4BLAFYKGHG6J9M51850ZX6FSL
  • Story Text: An all-star cast of independent film favorites joins actor Billy Crudup in "Jesus' Son," a big screen version of author Denis Johnson's acclaimed collection of semi-autobiographical short stories.
    In the film, Crudup plays a rumpled, hapless young man in his twenties who wanders aimlessly through the early 1970's perpetually high, his consciousness swinging from clouded confusion to brilliant clairty.
    The film unfolds much like Denis Johnson's book, in a seemingly random series of unrelated vignettes with Crudup's un-named character at the center. The only other character to re-occur is a mercurial young junkie named Michelle, played by recent Oscar nominee Samantha Morton.
    Stylistically unorthodox, "Jesus' Son" uses voice-over narration and other techniques to recreate the convoluted rhythm of a heroin junkie on a year's-long binge.
    The colorful parade of characters that Crudup's character encounters includes a crazed, pill-popping hospital orderly played by Jack Black, a down-on-his-luck divorcee played by Denis Leary, a half-paralyzed ex-alcoholic played by Holly Hunter and a crusty resident of a home for diabled veterans played by Dennis Hopper.
    Coordinating this band of diverse actors is New Zealand director Alison Maclean, whose first feature "Crush" screened in competition at the Cannes, Toronto and Sundance Film Festivals.
    Maclean's task was to make sense of Denis Johnson's stream-of-consciousness writings.
    "Jesus' Son" is Johnson's most popular collection of stories first published in 1992.
    It was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times and is now in its sixth printing in paperback.
    From the beginning, the screenplay was written with Billy Crudup in mind for the lead role. Crudup most recently starred in the films "Waking the Dead," "The Hi-Lo Country"
    and the Steve Prefontaine biography film "Without Limits,"
    produced by Tom Cruise.
    "Jesus' Son" is now playing in theaters throughout the United States.
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