Jesus' Son (2000)

Alison Maclean's (CRUSH) exhilarating adaptation of Denis Johnson's acclaimed short story collection is a deeply compassionate portrait of one man's descent into drug addiction, filled with a potent blend of surreal imagery and gritty realism. Remaining true to Johnson's original text, and in keeping with the film's substance-soaked subject matter, the film is structured in a blurry, fractured fashion. Billy Crudup stars as FH, a Midwestern twenty-something in the 1970s who has decent intentions, but only seems to make things worse for everyone, including himself. When he meets Michelle (played with ferocious intensity by Samantha Morton), he finds himself falling deeper into the dangerous, desperate world of drug abuse. A tragic event forces FH to confront his destructive lifestyle head on, even when it appears it might be too late. Landing in Arizona, he gets a job writing the newsletter for an assisted living facility, and finds redemption when he's least expecting it. Crudup and Morton, both incredibly engaging screen presences, make JESUS' SON a powerful, darkly comic, and ultimately uplifting motion picture. Holly Hunter, Jack Black, and Denis Leary all make brief appearances as quirky characters FH meets along his journey.