"The Jesus Rolls" was made as a vanity project for its writer, director and lead star, the character actor John Turturro, turned indie filmmaker, after a long career being one of the most prolific supporting players in North American cinema, most well-known for his work with Spike Lee and the Coen Brothers.
This project was intended as a remake of the french film "Les Valseuses" ('74), but Turturro knew that he only get financed if he throwed in one of his most beloved characters to the movie buffs, the eccentric pederast and bowling prowler, Jesus Quintana, from one of the Coen's most successful films, "The Big Lebowski" ('98).
After he got permission from his old friends, Ethan and Joel Coen, and due to Turturro himself, who had the creative freedom to fulfill the majority of Quintana's visual fanfare, mannerisms and accent, it was as much his "baby" as it was Coen's, so after almost 20 years, the character is back, straight from the prison due to indecent exposure, to the streets to further explore the world of this side-character, which became a fan's favorite and a counter-culture phenomenon.
Turturro didn't not wanted to make "The Big Lebowski 2", and even if he wanted, he wasn't allowed to do so, because the Coens aside from permission, didn't wanted to be associated with a sequel or even a 'spin-off' from their 'cult-film', so John Turturro's approach to the material, the writing, the mood and even the visuals are largely different and that's why it infuriated the majority of "The Big Lebowski" purists.
"The Jesus Rolls" also titled "Going Places" (the same english title from the original french film), have a strong european vibe in it mixed with the american indie film, an offbeat 'dramedy', partly comedy-of-errors, partly road trip film, which ironically reminds a bit of another film from the Coens, not "The Big Lebowski", but "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" ('00), in which Turturro also participated, working as a somekind of a weird Odyssey, with a nihilist feeling to it, like a trip to nowhere, where nobody gives a damn.
Turturro plays his Jesus Quintana as good as a viewer could expect, 20 years had pass, but the character's macho persona that conflicts with his own sexual dynamics (and tendencie) remains the same, as much as his downright hilarious accent, over-exaggerated manneirisms and devious smile, and Turturro never forgot how to play it, but Turturro now is nearly 60 years old (even if the character is supposed to be a bit younger) and he toned down the overacting, according to the tone of the film, that changes from comedy to drama, and even tragedy in the course of that (sometimes, surreal) road trip.
Bobby Cannavale, plays Quintana's self-centered, but way emotionally dependent sidekick, named Petey, the perfect Sancho Panza for Turturro's Don Quixote of La Mancha and french actress from "Amélie" ('01) and "The Da Vinci Code" ('06), Audrey Tautou is as cute as sexy in the role of Marie, a former prostitute turned hairdresser. It's notorious in almost every frame of the film she appears in, how the actress is having fun with the role, even if she overacts for the most part, especially when she is on-screen with Turturro and Cannavale, maybe due not being properly restrained by Turturro, not as an actor, but as the film's director.
Surprisely, the supporting cast features a lot of well-known faces and talented individuals, including extended cameos from Christopher Walken, playing an extension of Christopher Walken; Jon Hamm as a pompous hairdresser; Turturro's bud, Tim Blake Nelson as a doctor and Brazilian actress, Sonia Braga, from Héctor Babenco's "Kiss of the Spider Woman" ('85) & Clint Eastwood's "The Rookie" ('90), as Quintana's kinky mom, and last, but not the least, a great supporting turn by Susan Sarandon, which defies the concept of mature actresses playing just grannys. I may add that Susan never looked as better, in the 'tender' age of 70 years old, as when she shot her sexy scenes for this film. She put a viewer, enthusiastically, on a hold to watching Audrey, and when the darling 'Amélie' is 30 years younger, so... kudos to Miss Susan.
In short, besides its many problems during production and postponed release (it was filmed in 2016), "The Jesus Rolls" is a harmless funny strange little film that should have been appreciated as a "Going Places" adaptation, and not as a "The Big Lebowski"' crowd-pleaser. Surely it's not even close to a masterpiece, or even to talk too much about it later, but fans of oddball indie cinema, such as Richard Linklater's, should give it a chance and enjoy the ride.
My vote is a 6.5 !!
This project was intended as a remake of the french film "Les Valseuses" ('74), but Turturro knew that he only get financed if he throwed in one of his most beloved characters to the movie buffs, the eccentric pederast and bowling prowler, Jesus Quintana, from one of the Coen's most successful films, "The Big Lebowski" ('98).
After he got permission from his old friends, Ethan and Joel Coen, and due to Turturro himself, who had the creative freedom to fulfill the majority of Quintana's visual fanfare, mannerisms and accent, it was as much his "baby" as it was Coen's, so after almost 20 years, the character is back, straight from the prison due to indecent exposure, to the streets to further explore the world of this side-character, which became a fan's favorite and a counter-culture phenomenon.
Turturro didn't not wanted to make "The Big Lebowski 2", and even if he wanted, he wasn't allowed to do so, because the Coens aside from permission, didn't wanted to be associated with a sequel or even a 'spin-off' from their 'cult-film', so John Turturro's approach to the material, the writing, the mood and even the visuals are largely different and that's why it infuriated the majority of "The Big Lebowski" purists.
"The Jesus Rolls" also titled "Going Places" (the same english title from the original french film), have a strong european vibe in it mixed with the american indie film, an offbeat 'dramedy', partly comedy-of-errors, partly road trip film, which ironically reminds a bit of another film from the Coens, not "The Big Lebowski", but "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" ('00), in which Turturro also participated, working as a somekind of a weird Odyssey, with a nihilist feeling to it, like a trip to nowhere, where nobody gives a damn.
Turturro plays his Jesus Quintana as good as a viewer could expect, 20 years had pass, but the character's macho persona that conflicts with his own sexual dynamics (and tendencie) remains the same, as much as his downright hilarious accent, over-exaggerated manneirisms and devious smile, and Turturro never forgot how to play it, but Turturro now is nearly 60 years old (even if the character is supposed to be a bit younger) and he toned down the overacting, according to the tone of the film, that changes from comedy to drama, and even tragedy in the course of that (sometimes, surreal) road trip.
Bobby Cannavale, plays Quintana's self-centered, but way emotionally dependent sidekick, named Petey, the perfect Sancho Panza for Turturro's Don Quixote of La Mancha and french actress from "Amélie" ('01) and "The Da Vinci Code" ('06), Audrey Tautou is as cute as sexy in the role of Marie, a former prostitute turned hairdresser. It's notorious in almost every frame of the film she appears in, how the actress is having fun with the role, even if she overacts for the most part, especially when she is on-screen with Turturro and Cannavale, maybe due not being properly restrained by Turturro, not as an actor, but as the film's director.
Surprisely, the supporting cast features a lot of well-known faces and talented individuals, including extended cameos from Christopher Walken, playing an extension of Christopher Walken; Jon Hamm as a pompous hairdresser; Turturro's bud, Tim Blake Nelson as a doctor and Brazilian actress, Sonia Braga, from Héctor Babenco's "Kiss of the Spider Woman" ('85) & Clint Eastwood's "The Rookie" ('90), as Quintana's kinky mom, and last, but not the least, a great supporting turn by Susan Sarandon, which defies the concept of mature actresses playing just grannys. I may add that Susan never looked as better, in the 'tender' age of 70 years old, as when she shot her sexy scenes for this film. She put a viewer, enthusiastically, on a hold to watching Audrey, and when the darling 'Amélie' is 30 years younger, so... kudos to Miss Susan.
In short, besides its many problems during production and postponed release (it was filmed in 2016), "The Jesus Rolls" is a harmless funny strange little film that should have been appreciated as a "Going Places" adaptation, and not as a "The Big Lebowski"' crowd-pleaser. Surely it's not even close to a masterpiece, or even to talk too much about it later, but fans of oddball indie cinema, such as Richard Linklater's, should give it a chance and enjoy the ride.
My vote is a 6.5 !!