A down-on-his-luck man struggles to find a better life for his family while fighting to free himself of debt. Captivated by the power and glory of the rising Messiah, he risks everything to carve his own path to a divine life, ultimately discovering that the redemptive power of belief may be his only way out.
The Book Of Clarence is directed by Jeymes Samuel who previously directed The Harder They Fall (2021).
The Book Of Clarance is the third movie I've seen this month that I appreciate more than I like or dislike it (the other two being Destroy All Neighbors and American Star) there is so much to like with this movie so it's such a shame that it really does not come together in the end.
The acting is by far the best part about the movie, LaKeith Stanfield while starting off a bit rough does eventually really capture his performance quite well, Omar Sy, Anna Diop and many others do a solid job as well. It's just such a shame that Clarence/Thomas (played by LaKeith Stanfield) is the only fully fleshed out character, everyone else is either forgotten about or not given a whole lot to work with character development wise.
The biggest problem here is the movie tries to do so many things at once, it's very clear that it wants to be a parody of biblical epics, the Bible or an even a satire. It constantly switches and really starts to stick out like a sore thumb halfway through the movie, there's a couple jokes here and there that are decently funny. But unfortunately most of the movie is just not really funny, I can definitely see what they were going for with the humor but due to the writing and comedic timing it just does not land.
Having that said I do think the movie is well made, Jeymes Samuel absolutely does have vision especially when it comes to capturing some really good shots that compliment the story being told. The movie has a stylistic look to it that at the very least gives the movie its own personality.
Overall The Book Of Clarence isn't a bad movie, but it's one that could have been so much better. It's frustrating because with better writing, a more clear goal on what it wants to do and better jokes I think this would have went on to be something of a cult hit.
The Book Of Clarence is available in theaters.
5/10 C
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