Directed By Jeymes Samuel

Starring – Lakeith Stanfield, RJ Cyler, James McAvoy

The Plot – Streetwise but down-on-his-luck, Clarence (Stanfield) is struggling 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 and His apostles, he risks everything to carve his own path to a divine life, and ultimately discovers that the redemptive power of belief may be his only way out.

Rated PG-13 for strong violence, drug use, strong adult language, some suggestive material, and smoking.

THE BOOK OF CLARENCE – Official Trailer (HD) (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

After revitalizing the western genre with a sizzle of Blacksploitation personality in 2022’s “The Harder They Fall”, Samuel returns to the cinematic fray with a religious epic in the same vein as “The Ten Commandments”, bringing with him a re-imagining for the story of Christ with its own uniquely expressive elements that makes this a refreshing telling of a classic story. In only his second feature length film, Samuel further perfects his craft with enthusiastic aspects of direction, but ones differing in exaggerated emphasis from his previous effort, this time involving smooth transitions involving sweeping and keyhole framing techniques, as well as smoothly cerebral movements of the lens, which each effortlessly articulate that air of pungent personality that remains faithful towards the cruel and dangerous world that Samuel has conjured here. Long gone are the days of those painfully dry and bitter religious epics, instead supplanting accessible humor and humility, as well as humbling humanity towards iconic characters, which grounds them in the same kind of realities and conflicts that each of us face, all the while unloading a compelling narrative in discussion that made even an atheist like me curious of the journey that our titular protagonist was taken. While the film is marketed and plotted around Clarence’s mission to fool the surrounding townspeople and take advantage of their faith, the real meat of the script pertains to the idea of knowledge versus beliefs, and how one relies on fact, while the other relies on hope. This argument has obviously been waged for centuries, contemporarily in the science versus faith debate that always gets brought up in discussions like these, but while the film is faithful towards its religious surroundings, it doesn’t condemn Clarence for his own beliefs, and with the distance of the journey throughout two hours of exploration with his own scam bringing him face to face with irrefutible evidence, we’re treated to a compelling character study that shifts with the circumstances of his own vulnerabilities against dangerous adversaries from Rome. As expected from the marketing trailers, the film’s production works overtime towards emulating the distinct time period, with everything from costume designs, to color grading, to even on-site filming locations wielding authenticity and believability within the confines of the constructs. Because of the latter, the film can go blow for blow with any religious epic, in terms of scope or commanding scale, and while the film mostly centers around one con man and his journey towards redemption, the stakes assembled from such feel enriched with monumental urgency, especially since so many of the townsfolk eventually start to believe Clarence to be the next supernaturally gifted apostle. Stanfield gives what I truly believe is a memorable performance that will eventually outlive him, with much expected familiarity in charming charisma that pits the audience in the sandals of Clarence’s believers, as he seduces us with arresting wit and timely deliveries, but also resiliency when the Romans eventually come knocking, leading to a third act climax that physically and emotionally cement him as one of the most commanding actors decorating the stage, today. Aside from Lakeith, the rest of the ensemble are equally as gifted, with memorable turns from RJ Cyler, Omar Sy, James McAvoy, and even Benedict Cumberbatch, to round out the unexpected, but it’s ultimately Nicholas Pinnock’s spellbinding spin as Christ that gives Stanfield a run for his money in the depth, supplanting earnestness and confidence with the almighty to go with the already remarkable feats of capabilities, that stem as a result of some effective special effects work. Last but certainly not least, the movie’s soundtrack becomes a character of its own in the film, supplanting swagger to the spin in ways that effortlessly craft the refreshing personality of Samuel’s aforementioned direction, long before even the actors have a chance to. This is a soundtrack assembled by Samuel himself, with loads of creative versatility, in everything from hip-hop rhymes, to soulful instrumentals attaining atmosphere to so many scenes and sequences of unfiltered passion, and while the music does make these moments feel bolder in the heat of conflicts and interactions, they never feel out of place, as a result of the hands-on approach that Jeymes brandishes towards establishing his unique worlds, proving that if you want something done right, you better just do it yourself.

NEGATIVES

While “The Book of Clarence” does elicit another unconventional take towards a genre not often associated with black representation, this one falls a bit short from its predecessor, as a result of some unfortunate aspects that the creative forces behind the camera couldn’t suppress. For starters, the film is plagued by tonal whiplash throughout the duration of its run time, but primarily during the third act, when the dramatic factors of the screenplay start to override some of the humor. To be frankly honest, the humor itself didn’t work as effectively for me during those initial acts, as I would’ve expected, and because of such, so many punchlines fall flat in the way they’re continuously executed. Even such, the third act is gravitationally grueling in the ways Clarence’s journey to righteousness comes full circle with adversities that continuously chase him throughout, and while a dramatic distinction is what the climax needed to remain faithful to the corresponding brutal imagery, it instead chooses to call upon the humor once more during moments that are tonally and morally inappropriate. I get that Samuel is trying to imbed revisionist history to how Christ could’ve possibly been mistranslated from one generation to the next, but I honestly wish a white character held in parallel to Clarence would’ve persisted with little to no dialogue, as when this person starts talking, it sliced into all kinds of dramatic tension with lines that are delivered and even framed for humor, indisputibly. Aside from tonal whiplash throughout the proceedings, I found the film’s editing to be the lone area of concern for the production, especially with a couple of sequences that brandish continuity errors, as a result of the way two scenes are pasted together with one another. One such example pertains to Clarence being baptized and engulfed overhead in water, yet in the very next scene he is shown walking uphill to the town village dry as a bone. This isn’t necessarily an issue, as lots of time could’ve passed in the context of the two pasted scenes, but in the very next scene after it, Clarence’s garment is obviously saturated again, with his love interest of the film even mentioning it in the dialogue. This isn’t even the only time that something like this happens within the continuity of the editing, but it’s certainly the most distracting, and while this inevitably won’t be an issue for everyone, it’s sloppiness that always breaks my concentration to the engagement, which was already tested with a 125 minute run time that feels about 15 minutes too long. Part of this is certainly owed to the movie’s pacing, which sluggishly stalls the manifestation of the central plot a bit longer than it should’ve, as well as wasting too much time on a love angle for Clarence, which honestly doesn’t lead towards anything integral or endearing to the film’s prominence, but a three book framing device for the movie’s trio of acts only further slows down the momentum towards book-ended instances for the transferring momentum, serving as an unnecessary speed bump to conflicts that need anything but distance at the moments they’re simmering to blow.

OVERALL
“The Book of Clarence” is a more than worthy sophomoric effort for Jeymes Samuel, whose pungent personality and expressive presentation inspires the religious epic to purifying waters but falls just short of the heights reached by his 2022 breakthrough, as a result of tone-deaf instances and sloppy editing. While anything but infallible, the film is still aided tremendously by a career-defining performance from Stanfield, a soul-swooning soundtrack, and consistency of cultural representation throughout the film’s duration, allowing it and the genre their own rise to redemption in breaking the tedium of creative conventionalism.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-