Jesus Henry Christ

Of course nothing wrong with a more little and indie type of movie, as long as its good or compelling, which just most often isn't the case with this movie.

The whole movie came across as a bit of a pointless one to me. the story is lacking a clear purpose and by the end of it, it also doesn't feel like anything has been resolved.

Besides, everything in this movie feels far from natural. I'm not even necessarily talking about its story and the situations that are happening in it but more so about its characters and their relationships amongst each other. People fall in love, just because the story tells them to but not because there is any chemistry or any good reason for the two of them to fall in love with each other. Or at least the movie just doesn't give any. And the movie is being like this, with just about everything and everyone that is in this movie. A girl is weird, just because she is and a boy is supposed to be insanely smart, even while the movie doesn't ever give you any good reasons to believe this all. The whole way they get presented in this story and react to each other feel far from likely or natural. It just didn't made this movie a very pleasant one.

To me it's being very obvious that Dennis Lee had seen a bit too many Wes Anderson movies and he tries to be just like him, with his style and approach. It uses similar tropes, such as having quirky characters in it, that however do absolutely nothing good and interesting and by turning something that normally isn't funny at all into something comedic, just and only in the way it gets presented but not because it's actually something funny. No, I'm far from a big Wes Anderson fan, so it's also no big surprise that I really didn't liked this movie either, since it's simply being a lite- and less clever or original version of a Wes Anderson movie.

It's not a horrible movie, just not really one that I could ever like watching or felt like it was doing anything clever or compelling, with neither its different plot lines or any of its characters.

5/10

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The film has its bad points which are expressed in other reviews, In this one I will only be dealing with the howevers... Whilst the storyline consists of the undeveloped stories of each of the main characters and ends a little too neatly there are moments within the film which make it worth watching, largely due to the almost characteur like portrayal of the main characters. Whilst the characters are seen by many critics as shallow there are a lot of characters in it to enjoy. Unfortunately what made the film enjoyable for me personally was the mingling of the eccentricities of each characters, I say unfortunately as this seems to be where it falters in many peoples eyes: Whilst interesting the characters may be, the running time of the film does not allow for the full realization of the characters. I did not mind this so much as I have personally found in wes anderson films (tho i still love them) that sometimes the building of the characters have slowed the film down to what is usually a melancholy pace. JHC is seen as a poor version of a wes anderson film but as a wes anderson fan I found the eccentricities of the characters enjoyable all the same, despite the troubles in fully realising them in the plot. If there had been another half an hour added and the films dead ends reworked into satisfying conclusions this film could have easily been an 8+ /10

I have to say I was impressed, pleasantly by this indie production. I did chance upon the movie and I did not expect much from the story line. I thought it would be some kind of children offering and I was prepared to sample and leave it. However I found a little gem of a film. It is funny, well acted and briskly paced. The story of the little genius is more incidental than central to the theme. I particularly like the black humour that one wouldn't expect associated with with child actors. All in all it shows that mega budget are not needed to produce an intelligent, humorous and entertaining production. Well done Dennis Lee. I will watch out for this director/writer.

"Jesus Henry Christ" is a quirky indie comedy with a genetics, homosexuality and heresy bent. It starts off with heavy '70s-influenced comedy which you just have to hustle through to get to the heart of the story. The plot might seem a bit eccentric, but that is probably necessary if the comedy is going to be actually funny. Henry is a genius test-tube baby. He might be a freak but his mother (Toni Collette) wants to raise him normally.

Obviously Henry doesn't have many friends; that's why he's the classic indie protagonist. It also doesn't help that Catholic school headmasters don't like it when he denounces God's existence. Henry has always been able to handle himself just fine until the question of who his father is keeps popping up.

The introductions of his probable half-sister (Samantha Weinstein) and father (Michael Sheen) are possibly the funniest and most brilliant character set-up scenes. Audrey is Dr. Slavkin O'Hara's natural daughter but has decided to raise her as a psychology experiment in a world free of gender bias. Needless to say, she wishes she didn't have a father. Weinstein was uniquely beautiful and sympathetically hilarious as an adolescent with the hardest life imaginable. Sheen was funny, original and amazingly empathetic as a father/professor that is a perfect mix of 30 Rock's Wesley Snipes and the pedantic one from Midnight in Paris.

The spinning camera choices get annoying, the character and situation oddities can be off-putting, but it's also damn hilarious especially if you like anything that tries to turn "normal" social and cultural values upside down. "Jesus Henry Christ" is clever, particularly well-acted by most of the cast, and so original that you stare in disbelief but then laugh-out-loud out of awkwardness, relatability and genuine appreciation.

I liked this film from the moment we witness a potted history of Patricia's childhood. Patricia is Henry's mum and Henry is a kind of genius. He is certainly different but who wouldn't be with a mum like Patricia? The relationship between mum and son is a delightful watch as is Henry's growing urge to find his father. And there is Uncle Stan another character of infinite eccentricity for us to enjoy.

The beauty of this film is that it doesn't take itself seriously and neither do the characters and yet they are all tangible enough for us to like. It echoes life it really does. When Henry discovers his real background and the identity of the sperm donor then enter Audrey, his half sister, and another lovable quirky character with an equal flair for genius.

This is a film made for the many eccentricities you can wring out of such a wacky group of characters not by making cheap fun but by genuinely exploring where these people might go with their lives. It is fun, it is funny, and its ninety odd minutes seem to fly by and so it has to be doing something right.