Jon Hartz Too many anachronisms to stomach, it looks like the 1970's instead of the years right after WWII. They did not spend enough money on production to make it believable. I mean, Afros, large sunglasses, modern skyscrapers, modern clothes? Really? The rented steam train does not come close to making up for everything else. That, and the bad acting did it for me. I have never read the book and I wonder if the screenplay is true to it: Flannery O'Connor is an excellent author, I can't believe she wrote it like this. That, and the anti-Christian subtext is very disturbing. My bride and I sat through about thirty minutes before we threw in the towel.

Degree7 So John Huston's "Wise Blood" is a cult adaptation of a cult novel, and has a very cult-y feel to it, as in offbeat and satirical.It's also a film with a lot of odd scenarios and very strange, earnest characters that try to reach out to the main character of Hazel Motes. Hazel has just returned from an unspecified war, and has a lot of foul baggage that he carries around from his days as the son of a manic preacher.People try to get to know this defiant, and sometimes irrational man, but the only thing he has on his mind is spreading the idea that people don't need Jesus to save them. The only problem is, he's living in a community where Jesus is the bedrock of every day life."Wise Blood" has a few faults though. Sometimes the characters border on downright irritating, and there seems to be a curious lack of momentum to the story. The filmmakers seemed to dryly interpret the source material, and figured the result would be able to stand on its own. But the viewer is quite often left in the dark to a lot of the events. One part of the climax has a character blinding himself with chemicals, and this should have been the most dramatic part of the story, but is instead almost glossed over so matter-o-factly that it only further alienates the viewer from understanding the character motivations.Believe me, it's a Weird film with a capital W. But from amongst it, the towering Brad Dourif shines in an attention-grabbing role, and he only shows his range and talent as a character actor. There are times when he becomes so fixated with fighting back against those he thinks are 'hypocrites' that he becomes almost frightening. The only problem is that the rest of the film is somewhat lackadaisical about its more disturbing content, and the lassez-faire attitude keeps the audience at arms length throughout.What it lacks in direct punch, "Wise Blood" makes up for as a twisted morality tale on the lengths that religious obsession and guilt will string those along, in this very dark comedy. A low 7 from me.

Bolesroor "Wise Blood" is a rambling, ambling film about a young soldier who returns from the war and embarks on a career as an anti-religious street preacher. Brad Dourif plays Hazel, whose returning home from his ostensible tour in Vietnam seems much more like a release from a long prison stint. He doesn't seem to know anyone, or anything about modern society. He is strangely out of place in a strangely underpopulated and anachronistic universe. I kept asking myself if the film was supposed to take place in the present-day 1979 or the fifties? This is what happens to a Director's eye as he gets older...Brad Dourif is a wonderful actor... always unafraid, always making original and unusual choices in his performances. Hollywood seems to consider him too much of an oddball to play the Lead, but I think that's exactly what makes him so fascinating... Amy Wright stars as Sabbath Lily, and almost completely steals the show with her magnetic eyes, expressive face, and wonderful comedic timing. Harry Dean Stanton also gives a great performance as a blind rival preacher.The movie has great actors and some genuinely funny bits: Hazel's defensiveness about his car, Sabbath Lily's lustful pursuits, Ned Beatty's new Messiah, the gorilla sequence... but these seem at odds with the extraordinarily dark themes that lie beneath the surface, and the pointedly-bitter finale. It's a shame this movie didn't gel into something more cohesive and memorable, but it definitely earns points for originality... it is like no movie you have ever seen before, and for that reason alone it is a winner.GRADE: B-

EricNorcrossDotCom It's a great character study - in that, it explores what a person becomes if they are a "true idealist". The idea is that we all give up certain ideals every single day in exchange for making our lives more efficient and effective. Where the main character of this story is a solid, immobile foundation of ideals. We see how it slowly corrodes his life, his social connections and affects the people around him. Think about it this way: if you live in a city where you think the MTA charges too much for bus/train fare, but choose to utilize the service because the other options are too hard to follow through with each and everyday, you've essentially given up an ideal. The main character in this movie wouldn't do that, he would walk to his destination or learn to ride a bicycle or what have you. That is, at least, my understanding of this the lead character in this phenomenal movie.