Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk (2017)
A teenage boy comes of age during the Reagan years,
discovering that he really enjoys many pleasurable things that his
family- and his religion- frown upon...
Director:
Eric StoltzWriter:
Tony DuShaneStars:
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
2017 (USA) See more »Company Credits
Production Co:
Eric Stoltz adapts Tony DuShane's autobiographical novel about a teen trying to be a good Jehovah's Witness.
"This all happened because of a Sears catalog," admits a post-adolescent voice in Eric Stoltz's Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk,
referring to the erotic power of tame underwear ads in a pre-internet
household whose parents did their best to keep racy, "worldly"
temptations at bay. That's one of many details giving the ring of truth
to this memoir about coming of age as a deeply conservative Christian, a
period piece about the battle between hormones and Heavenly thought.
But the scene-setting works better than the storytelling in this sincere
but clumsy picture, whose script (by first-timer Tony DuShane, author
of the book it was based on) makes a bit of a muddle of the interactions
between its teen and adult Jehovah's Witnesses (and the occasional
troublemaking nonbeliever). Though some adult refugees from puritan
upbringings may appreciate seeing their lives represented here, the
film's commercial outlook is dim.
The "Jesus jerk" in question, Gabe (Sasha Feldman), is really less of
a jerk than someone being jerked around by others' unreasonable
expectations. Expectations like the belief, firmly if inexplicably held
by adult males at his church, that he and his 16-year-old buddies can
get through high school without masturbating. The film knows better, and
does a good job of conveying Gabe's cognitive dissonance: He routinely
gives in to this and other temptations, but his self-image remains that
of a pure-living Witness who will come out on the right side of
Armageddon.
Gabe drinks from time to time, is relaxed about penny-ante sins and
even goes along with it when his bad-girl cousin Karen (Lauren Lakis)
pulls down her top and puts his hand on her. (That happens right after
she makes a casual reference to being molested by her father, something
the movie is bizarrely uninterested in.) Shortly after this scene, we
watch Gabe at school, where he is getting up the nerve to express
interest in a girl. Viewers may be puzzled by the weight given to the
first time he touches the hand of his second- or third-choice classmate
crush, given the previous encounter. But the breast-grope actually
hasn't happened yet — one of several instances where chronology is
jumbled for no apparent reason.
Also strange is the insertion, at seemingly random points, of
documentary-like interviews with older Jehovah's Witnesses. Little of
what they say reveals much about the story's themes, and none of it
bears specifically on its characters. Given how little the talking-head
moments add, it's hard to justify breaking up a story that is already
having a hard time pulling us along with it.
Gabe's romantic anxieties are universal enough that we can empathize
on autopilot, even if it sometimes seems there are enough beautiful
girls making themselves available that he shouldn't be worried. (In some
cases, the script invests time in establishing a potential love
interest only to forget about her completely.) And though it's less
universal, the screenplay helps outsiders understand how a minor or
non-existent infraction might get a believer "disfellowshipped," or
shunned by his peers for a set period of time. (One adult is said to
have been exiled for the sin of voting in the presidential election.)
But the film is more opaque about some intrachurch controversies that
seemingly cause its most dramatic event. We twice catch a glimpse of a
book, Crisis of Conscience, that seems to be causing believers
to question their leaders; a few mentions of a controversy in Malawi
back this up. But we're not given nearly enough information to
understand how this could lead to a climactic tragedy, or to guess what
it says about the Elders who lead Gabe's church.
Gabe's father (Paul Adelstein) is one of those Elders, a stern man
who believes he's loving his child by trying to keep him away from the
Devil. We know the type, but Confessions hints at darker
specifics (his physical anger; his wife's sneaky drinking) that, if
explored more sensitively, might have made us care about the man and
feel for his predicament. It's tough to raise a child when you truly
believe that being human will condemn him to hell. And, at least in this
case, it's hard to care much about the son without understanding the
father who made him this way.
At the end I just wanted to say that I am not sure about giving 4 or 5 stars. But I decide to go for...
Thanks for reading and have fun watching movies.
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