Jesus' Son

Ten years ago, I saw an indie film in the theater called Jesus's Son. It's a great little flick about a drug addict who's constantly trying to get his life in order (and coming across some quirky characters along the way). The thing that impressed me most at the time was the film's tone. Depressing indie films about drug addicts are a dime a dozen. So are indie films brimming with "quirky characters". Jesus's Son manages to tread that fine line between the two and be very touching as well as entertaining.

When the movie got released on DVD, the studio decided to just recycle the movie poster for the cover. This is not surprising as it was a small film that didn't make much money, so why spend any extra effort on it. Besides, the poster art was just dandy:



OK, so we're not talking Anatomy of a Murder here, but the poster is tasteful and gets the job done.

I came across a review of the re-release on DVD Talk this morning. According to the reviewer, the disc is exactly the same. Only the cover art has changed. Here's what it looks like:



The recycling of old DVD's into new packages is nothing new, but this is just bizarre. The reviewer observes that Jack Black is now more prominently displayed both in name and (poorly photoshopped) image. True enough, but more baffling to me than their elevating his bit role to costar status is the design concept as a whole: The "Big Lebowski" color scheme. The 3-D title. The mischievous grin on Dennis Hopper (he does not play a comic role, folks). People who pick this title up expecting a sunny comedy are going to sorely disappointed.

There is something to be said for fooling people into seeing something they would not see normally. Either way, the movie is definitely worth a look. Just know what you're getting into.

P.S.: The soundtrack kicks ass, too.