The Book of Clarence struggles to balance its religious satire/stoner comedy aspirations against its sincere retelling of the bible. Even if it doesn't entirely coalesce it's still a lot of fun whilst using its deliberate casting choices to draw parallels from the Roman empire to 21st Century America and has an investing story of a nobody trying to become a somebody.
LaKeith Stanfield is an endlessly watchable screen presence and the fact that there's two of him here only makes it better as he has some great arguments and emotional beats with himself. Omar Sy is so damn likeable here with both the coolest moment and one of the best jokes. James McAvoy comes into the film late and uses every minute to make sure his villainy still leaves an impression.
Jeymes Samuel's direction has plenty of style and uses Tom Eagles' snappy editing to great effect. It starts with a chariot race that emphasises the crashes with a first person perspective and then continues to look gorgeous as it goes along. Just as he did with The Harder They Fall, Samuel's score takes the classic sound of the genre and modernises it beautifully.
LaKeith Stanfield is an endlessly watchable screen presence and the fact that there's two of him here only makes it better as he has some great arguments and emotional beats with himself. Omar Sy is so damn likeable here with both the coolest moment and one of the best jokes. James McAvoy comes into the film late and uses every minute to make sure his villainy still leaves an impression.
Jeymes Samuel's direction has plenty of style and uses Tom Eagles' snappy editing to great effect. It starts with a chariot race that emphasises the crashes with a first person perspective and then continues to look gorgeous as it goes along. Just as he did with The Harder They Fall, Samuel's score takes the classic sound of the genre and modernises it beautifully.