Review of Jesus Henry Christ (2012) by Sylvester K — 05 Nov 2013

If there was ever a film that was trying too hard, it would be "Jesus Henry Christ." It's this little indie darling that tries to examine the bonds of families and what makes up a family as well.

It's pretty quirky which is its detriment. The beginning part of the film is probably the quirkiest with the most black comedy. It deals with his mother's (Colette) childhood, which is littered with members of her immediate family dying for different reasons, whether it be death by fire, accidental shooting, AIDS, or car wrecks, they're all in a long line.

She's left with her father, who turns out to be a pretty unlikable and bland character. That's not an uncommon reaction to other characters as well. The film starts off thoughtful, looking into the psyche of Henry (Spevack), who turns out to be a child genius, and his mother, who is a left-wing working woman.

Then it quickly devolves. There's a talking, one week old baby (completely implausible), the meeting of his biological father, Slavkin (Sheen), who meets his biological mother, and then Henry meets his sister, Audrey (Weinstein), who is beyond wicked.

First she's a loner, what with her father writing a book about her, which is, by the way, a very cruel and unusual punishment. What the book actually contains is vague, and the impact of his work on his daughter really isn't evident, even in the telling last moments of the film.

Weinstein has all the trappings of a sardonic teenaged muse, but she acts like an abused housewife a la Martha via George. The entire film gets very convoluted and vague half-way through, and instead of developing insight into familiar relations, it devolves into anarchy.

Henry's intellect falls by the wayside, Slavkin comes off like an evil mastermind, and his mother loses all personality until she's basically forgotten. It started off so fresh and funny, and then it writes itself into a corner until we're left with nothing entertaining or insightful.