THE BOOK OF CLARENCE Movie Review **SPOILER ALERT**
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- Опубликовано: 8 янв 2024
- Gay homosexuals Nick and Joseph spoil The Book of Clarence - a 2024 American epic biblical comedy-drama film written and directed by Jeymes Samuel.
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Cast:
LaKeith Stanfield as Clarence and Thomas
Omar Sy as Barabbas
Anna Diop as Clarence's love-interest and Jedediah's sister.
RJ Cyler as Elijah, Clarence's best-friend
David Oyelowo as John the Baptist
Micheal Ward as Judas Iscariot
Alfre Woodard as Mother Mary
Teyana Taylor as Mary Magdalene
Caleb McLaughlin as Zeke
Eric Kofi-Abrefa as Jedediah the Terrible
Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Clarence's mother
James McAvoy as Pontius Pilate
Benedict Cumberbatch as Benjamin
Nicholas Pinnock as Jesus Christ
Babs Olusanmokun
Chase Dillon
Tom Glynn-Carney
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as a Roman guard
Cinematography by Rob Hardy
Edited by Tom Eagles
Music by Jeymes Samuel
Keywords: ending explained, reaction video, trailer, Jay-Z, BFI London Film Festival, Sony Pictures Releasing, The Harder They Fall 
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I loved the movie. One aspect of the story that you didn’t mention is that instead of Clarence paying Jedediah, he freed the slaves (gladiators). That seemingly signed his death warrant. Perhaps his selflessness there proved his transformation.
Man that crucifixion was brutal.
RUclips brought me to this channel, and I started binge watching the videos. There are a lot of movie review channels out there, but for me, this is the best. Nick and Joseph have very distinct views, but they complement each other effortlessly. Of course, I've subscribed.
They are the best & I’ve been around the block!!!
It’s essentially a rework on so many levels. (Prelude: it’s not a satire of the Bible, it’s in the allegory of the Black struggle in present day to the message of Jesus) It reworks the Old Hollywood Biblical epic: As religion is used to affirm identity of the ruling class this film subverts that. It undoes the whitewashing and places people of color at the heart of the story and connects the subjugation of Judea by the Roman’s to poor Black folks today. Ie reimagining part of Jerusalem as a ghetto.
Clarence is an archetypal character of the way Black men in the ghetto are viewed. He’s a drug dealing vagrant who believes in nothing, except his own right to humanity, and the humanity of the lowest of them. If look at the Jesus almost as a Rapper, the apostles as his entourage, Clarence sees them as people who have come up through placating to a certain yearning for a savior. Clarence only sees the glamour of the post, not knowing the consequences of the pious and those truly seeking the liberation of a people.
There’s a quote from the love interest when she’s talking to his mom early on and she says “he could fly if he wanted”. This sentiment is one we hear preached to young men born into Clarence’s circumstances. That against all of that, he has something in him that is god like. Theres a quote about God and us as his creation I’ve always enjoyed: what we are in part, God is in measure. Meaning we all inherently possess a bit of God in each of us that enables us to do miraculous things, it only requires that we believe. So when Clarence walks on water, instead of rejecting the God in him, he embraces it and believes in himself. When he says “We don’t need punishment, we need enlightenment” it’s a direct correlation to both of these conditions, as the minority class, Black people don’t need the punitive subjugation of racism as law to correct some of the ignorance that blinds us, we need enlightenment. As individuals, we have to undo the narrative that a lone savior can save us, we each have the capacity to bear a cross and become our own saviors, and our witness will impact 1000s looking on at our example. This was incredibly powerful in the faces of the crowd as they look upon a crucified Clarence. Just as Christ’s death has been a catalyst for the transformation of billions of people, so can the example Clarence sets be for them, by killing Clarence they only sowed the seeds of a larger resistance and usurping of authority, a true martyr. The allegory of the late life of Christ works brilliant here.
Clarence comes fully into faith only once experiencing the completed work of the cross and understanding its power. Religion works best when it’s not blind faith, but when we, like Paul, have our own Road to Damascus experience with coming to Christ. When Christ resurrects Clarence we are to understand that Clarence has come to view Christ as the resurrection and the life, and that living in something greater and taking on our own version of the work of the cross, we can live forever. It also was an awesome bit to have Clarence cast as the twin of doubting Thomas; Clarence doubted Christ while he lived, Thomas doubted Christ after he’d been resurrected. Cool motif I thought.
This is the review I was looking for. I respect and like the reviewers in this video but I think they missed some of the messages of the movie. You hit a lot of them. I’m still trying to decide some of the movie. What you wrote is helpful and spot on.
Benedict distributed his coins to folks on the street so he became gleefully sanctified but a pissed-off on the cross. Remember how he was mad that the artist painted his image which was the one we are stuck with for millennia. Also that black Jesus looked exactly like a depiction I grew up with in my house. Uncanny.
And that Nights over Egypt club scene! 🔥
Clarance Thomas???
"Here comes the judge!"
😂😂😂
He’s a stoner but he doesn’t snitch on Jesus. Also his brother left to follow the “trickster.”
I agree with you Nick. That knights over Egypt moment was fantastic. I found myself weeping. All those beautiful black faces.
As a former church kid, I think this will be loaded with inside jokes from the Bible that one can only recognize if you knew the different stories by heart. Also, there are many historical “books” from the Bible that were intentionally left out, so it sounds like a whole play on that. These may be a plot points that non-readers will struggle with.
They get the Romans correct at least
Ding ding ding. That’s exactly what this was. There was a direct reference to the gospel of Thomas.
Book of Clarence is phenomenal! Cast, writing, acting, and direction was genius. The ending left you forefilled, in deep thought, and wanting more. Bravo to all involved!!!
Saw this last week during AMC Unseen…I loved it.
Not Clarence Thomas 😂
How did I not think of that? 🤦🏾♂️
Can’t be a coincidence.. can it?
And Clarence parents have a real good marriage. That’s all I keep thinking when I hear the title of this film
😂 Caught that reference
😂😂😂
😂😂
Joseph has such a radio voice, golden wow!
joseph's imitation of crying is always my favourite thing
There are so many messages in this movie. Clarence did find faith, the ending leads us to believe that Clarence got a second chance to go preach the teachings, love, and compassion of Jesus
Saw this last night and it was amazing. I would love to see again
No his beliefs started to shift once he went and freed the slaves with the money he had made.. and he said If I die 20 will live .
You had me at Omar Sy 🎉
Reminds me of Dogma and Life of Brian. Hard to pull off a film like this. Sounds like it has done a pretty good job.
Well, that’s what I really wanted to vibe like. But it didn’t do a good job. Some great scenes but missed the point.
As a fairly regular churchgoer I want to see this movie. It sounds like it will make people think. Although when I see it I will be the ultimate judge. However if it annoys extremists from both the fundamentalist religious people and the radical irreligious I'm certain the film is doing something right.
Excellent breakdown as usual, gentlemen! I really can’t wait to see this.
It’s so good. U gonna cry friend
The one scene you mentioned, with the Roman Police made me 🤭and, 😀at the same time! Racial intolerance, and 'scams' in 'biblical times' - sounds overall whacky - but without the uniformed "energy" which you think it's low on - very nicely reviewed😊
I think this movie was artistically shot masterfully and in away we’ve never seen some of the stories in the Bible, but just from an entertainment aspect i think this movie got to the point in almost every scene there was no long dialogue and it was sprinkled in with comedy it is definitely a movie to watch. Just from an entertainment stand point. From a biblical stand point it’s obviously a fiction that isn’t centered around Jesus but does have historical characters in it. Overall I thought it was very creative artistically and a dope storyline.
I felt like something was changing in him when he collected all of that money, and then instead of paying back Jedidiah and buying his mother a home, he took it back and freed the gladiator slaves. Great movie.
They needed Zeke bc he was the only one who knew how to get to Mary’s house
Not sure how they missed that. He was a driver.
The bit about he can fight; when you grow up in the projects, it’s a good skill to have, and wouldn’t be surprising at all that he did know how to fight.
Also, look at how Black kids with IEPs and 504s are viewed, stupid. It’s not that at all, they just think differently and Clarence carries the archetype of the “so smart you’re dumb” character. The common senseless genius of that makes sense. Someone who uses all their genius doing wrong instead of right, and there’s SOOOOO MUCH to unpack there as far as the Black condition.
Also a brilliant bit about Black men protecting Black women with Eijjah physically shielding Mary from the stones as she’s being humiliated for being a “slut”.
He didn't find faith. He saw evidence so changed his position.
I think so too. Remember he was preaching "knowledge over belief"
Interesting insights. Did you notice how the setting of the movie could have been set in modern times and story could have been about same trials of a young black male trying feel valued? I talk about it in my review at Movies, Music and More here on RUclips.
Great breakdown. I think you missed his transformation altogether though. He could have kept being a sinner but he gave all his money to free the slaves and he refused to continue to blaspheme. He took up his “cross” to become a better man. While he did only accept Jesus as lord on his death bed he did change his ways and accepted his death while having everything.
Disparage ye not stoners, lest you yourself get stoned 😂💖
😂😂😂❤
Excellent review guys! I totally agree
The movie is Oscar worthy !
The three Jesus characters are probably referring to the trinity….father, son, Holy Ghost…the three in one.
That's what I thought, too. ❤
***SPOILERS*** I would have enjoyed this movie much more if it had leaned into the satire. The "non-believer experiences a miracle and becomes a believer" trope is the plot of every TBN, straight to video, Christian Lifetime-esque movie. It would have been interesting to see Clarence actually succeed in his con and have his story written by onlookers, enshrined in ancient holy books, and used as a foundation of religion. There was so much room to really explore this in a new way.
The crowd did choose Jesus to be executed in the bible 👀
I can’t wait to see this! I had to watch yalls review first ! Amazing perspective as always
I had high hopes but I agree with the 2.5, it takes a big long swing but unfortunately misses. The afro-centric comedy/satire concept is excellent, but it forgets what it is by the third act and just becomes a full faith based film. By then the few jokes stuck in the middle of the remaining revenant and somber scenes come off jarring and tonally inappropriate. Good call on _In God We Trust_ and _Leap of Faith_ I came in thinking it would be something like that too.
I liked this movie much! Saw a screening last week. So unique.
Zeke was the uber driver throughout the film
Watched it last night and I cried four times. I’m definitely going to watch it again tonight
Thanks for the review! I always love hearing what you guys have to say. As a Christian, when I saw the trailer for this movie in front of The Color Purple it made me a bit uncomfortable (I understand that you cannot always be comfortable with some heavy topics like religion). I didn't understand if they were trying to make fun of or belittle Jesus Christ which I found a bit problematic but maybe that is the whole point😅I'm a big Lakeith Stanfield fan so I'm on the fence about whether I'll watch this or not just to see him but thanks for the review.
I was so impressed by the previews. Excited to see it
Right there with you guys on this one
The Soundtrack in this movie is just downright 🔥 for no reason. And I’m agnostic and I loved this movie.
Great video! 🎉
I thought the story was pretty straight forward. It’s the never ending struggle of us vs them. Whether it be faith, politics, social class, family, etc. It only takes place during the life and times of a man named Jesus. As far as Jedediah and Cabbage caring for Clarence, I believe it is this weird sense of community where we don’t like when outsiders hurt or cause injustice to our people. Similar to not wishing a certain fate upon our worst enemy because of how cruel it can be. I find this odd but it somehow it makes sense and I don’t think a RUclips comment can explain it.
The old saying is as a minority, not even having magical powers, and or money, will keep you from being crucified
When I saw the trailer for this, I immediately thought this was derivative of Monty Python's, The Life of Brian, no?
Life of Brian was funny
Im lookin forward to seeing this but I can’t lie, Clarence the name is taking me out, Irish/English ass name wasn’t used as a first name til the 19th century.
Are we voting on a film for a live this week for Saturday Jan 13?😊
Hey Nick, will you be going to the Sundance Film Festival this month? I am interested in your opinion of Jesse Eisenberg's film "A Real Pain" which will be premiering there.
I just watched the trailer and
I am also confused about who this might be for…
Thank Clarence I have y’all to tell what movies to watch and which to skip lol
I think this film has an identity crisis. There are about four different films present here- with different themes and different styles. I would’ve preferred the first one shown, a satirical biblical comedy that felt like a black ass Superbad meets Ben Hur.
I do feel like quite a few people were miscast. LaKeith being one of them.
As a black creative I do appreciate the big swing, but it was way too disjointed and incoherent
The 1961 version of Barabbas with Anthony Quinn is really good. Family is heavily religious, I'm not, but some of the old movies I can't hate on.
You guys should review American Dream: A 21 Savage Story PLEASE 🙏🏾
I loved this movie. It’s literally for everyone even at the ending. I like to believe that Clarance’s growth gave him the power he had.
Adding the dancing blue lady was a nice touch that I hope he can incorporate in future films
I agreed with how some scenes brought up questions or setup for further satire ie the scene with Jesus’s mom getting pregnant but then it turns on it’s head
For me the film fell flat with the jokes and it got way better with the third act with the more serious approach. Thats just my opinion though.
I think it was the view of Christ from a non believers point of view. Of course not all of it is sticking to the stories of the Bible however, I think the true message is about how resilient Black people are. If you remember, the Roman soldiers were absolutely racist toward them, and one of them gets an earful from my character who talks about how they really small people and that’s why they are scared.Black people. I would attribute the walking on water also to the resilience and maybe I’m stretching but even to the Martin Luther King speech where he says, we are the people who will get to the promised land and he may not make it there with us. I don’t know these are my thoughts, but I found this very deep, and I need to see it again.
By act 2 he was tired of his own lies which confused me. I thought I was walking into a comedy or satire instead I got a jumbled and confused drama that was mainly boring. James Maccovy I thought he was Gerald butler but he gave me comedy energy at first and that’s what I expected. Everything else dumb
Love Nick’s shirt
"Friday" PG-13 meets "The Passion of the Christ" with connected disconnects.
Could they each have portrayed the father, the son, and the holy ghost, as the 3 crucifictions? Just a thought.
Great review. In the opening show we see all the people crucified. We see the white guy, Clarence, and I'm pretty sure real Jesus is to the side of Clarence crucified.
“You left me and mom” This is a direct metaphor of Christ’s quote “Let the dead bury their dead”.; which means sometimes the calling of Christ means that you must make sacrifices for the greater good, that people will die whether you’re there or not, so pursuit of Christ and his mission is greater than than the tradition of the time where people would leave work essentially or their responsibilities in their own home and life to go to their parents to prepare them for death in their last days and go bury them.
6:11 As a believer of god but haven’t been to church in 20 years..yes.😂 I don’t know who this movie is for. I’m very curious because of the all black cast and that’s important to me but the trailer gave me a flashback of my dad saying THATS BLASPHEMOUS!!😂😂After hearing your description it does not seem that bad. Even if it is saying religious people are stupid it seems well made. I’ll watch it on HBO max
Christianity is a cult. At least you escaped the church
Not going to lie, this just seems a modern Life of Brian take
Great movie but I’m not sure what to take from it either
The minute I saw Lakeith playing his own brother, my engagement just drastically decreased; and I think when this movie became a pro Jesus movie I lost even more engagement. It’s an interesting movie tho
I just came to LIKE!! ...but will be back after I watch LaKeith act a fool 😂😂😂..Love you Boos ❤❤❤
... you really have to read the Book‼️
For whatever reason Lakeith tends to get on my nerves in all his roles 😩 and as a Christian I was very hesitant and confused about this movie based on the trailers, I think I’m even more confused now on the point of the movie or like y’all said what audience they were even targeting 🤔 I don’t mind religious critique but not interested in watching simple blasphemy … idk what’s going on and it doesn’t sound super interesting either I guess I’ll skip it
Liked the cinematography but in the end it was actually too gruesome and zoomed in on the nails.
Jedidiah scene at the end was good. But immediately all the good feelings was gone and they lost to the Romans
Awe man, I love you’e reviews on all of the other movies I’ve seen you guys talk about. But I have to be honest, you two missed the mark on this one. I think a lot of things went over your head, shockingly, because you guys usually hit the mark. For example, there was one part where you said, The gladiators were learning how to fight, and they outnumbered the people holding them, why didn’t they just leave? That was a take on slavery. Kanye said slavery was a choice, which was a horrible way to phrase that. But essentially, he was saying the same thing. There was punishment for leaving if you got caught, some were not ok with the odds.
Gypsy territory was just a part of the lower Jerusalem
2 hours and 15 minutes, huh.
Benedict’s Jesus was meant to portray the punishment of white allyship and why the message of unity that Martin and Malcolm eventually reached is so poignant. Here is this white man giving all this money, help, to these subjugated people to genuinely help them motivated by his own life experience and kinship in struggle and how the system will treat those people as enemies of the state as well.
No thanks
Hey gays
🌈🌞 Hey Sunshine!!
I'm going to watch it a second time to analyze it. I couldn't figure out the moral of the story.
I was so unclear on the message pro Jesus or maybe pro- black Jesus or anti Christianity.
@@sisterstaketoo1981 I feel like it was very pro Christianity. I was hoping for something critical of religion. Clarence, at the beginning of the film, voiced his atheist opinions but they were his alone. He eventually changed his mind. Isn't that the whole point of Christianity? Choosing to follow Christ? He did that.
I watched it a 2nd time. Zero blasphemy.
The tone was very inconsistent in this movie, plus a lot of the humor fell flat. I don't recommend watching it.
I didn’t think teanna Taylor was good she overplayed it so much with her screams when she was being stoned
I love you guys but damn y’all sound church hurt 😩 the concept of walking by faith and not by sight is not equivalent to blindly following something. It’s ok to not understand or share beliefs but please try to show a little more respect in the future to other beliefs 💕 I don’t think it was intentional but it seeped through in some comments made about “religion”
But calling them church hurt is disrespectful to their beliefs…. I’m sure they didn’t mean to offend you but I’m also sure that they aren’t going to filter their thoughts in order to appease you, and they shouldn’t have to.
A good idea that would of made a great comedy if done correctly, but this film should be crusified for crimes against cinema. The story is basically what if Jesus was a modern day black American, which again could of been hilarious. (ITS NOT!!) The actors are generic, so generic that when it came to a scene that should of been emotional, I felt nothing. Over all, good idea with a terrible execution. Dont waist your time on this one, you will come out of the theater feeling like you were the one crusfied.
This movie is a waste of your hard earned money. Give me a break. It’s like watching paint dry on a wall.