Blu-ray: The Jesus Rolls

STUDIO: Screen Media | DIRECTOR: John Turturro | CAST: John Turturro, Bobby Cannavale, Audrey Tautou, Susan Sarandon, Jon Hamm, Pete Davidson
RELEASE DATE: May 8, 2020 | PRICE: DVD $9.96, Blu-ray $14.99
BONUSES: commentary with John Turturro and Bobby Cannavale
SPECS: R | 85 min. | Comedy | 1.85:1 widescreen | DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

RATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie  | Audio  | Video  | Overall 

The Jesus Rolls, one of the stranger film ideas in recent years, has been sprung by John Turturro (Gloria Bell), who wrote, produced and stars in this truly eccentric cinematic meshing of the Coen Brothers 1998 cult favorite The Big Lebowski and Going Places, the French 1974 sex-fueled road film starring Gerard Depardieu (A Pure Formality) and the late Patrick Dewaere (Get Out Your Handkerchiefs).

Turturro is on hand as Lebowski’s flamboyant Latino bowler Jesus Quintana, here meeting pal Petey (Bobby Cannavale, Motherless Brooklyn) when he’s fresh out of prison. After stealing a car from a salon owner (Jon Hamm, TV’s Mad Men) and hooking up with his freewheeling employee Marie (Audrey Tautou, Mood Indigo), the three misfits take off on a smalltime crime and sex spree that brings them into contact with a series of oddball characters.

If anything, The Jesus Rolls is unpredictable. It’s plotless and anecdotal and many of the situations are sexually-oriented while the humor is definitely from the low-brow department. While The Jesus Rolls only offers one bowling scene, there’s no no shortage of the unseemly bedroom activities of Jesus, Petey and Marie. Later on, Susan Sarandon (The Meddler) as another ex-con and Pete Davidson (TV’s Saturday Night Live) as her son get into the act in different ways.

The rabid group of Lewbowski lovers out there will likely be disappointed with this outing’s spurious connection to the Coen Brothers comedy. Still, there may be a curiosity factor at play here, especially with this fine cast, which also includes Christopher Walken (Romance & Cigarettes) , J.B. Smoove (TV’s Curb Your Enthusiasm), Tim Blake Nelson (Colossal) and Sonia Braga (Aquarius).

After spending some time on the shelf, The Jesus Rolls finally made it to a few theaters in late February, but rolled a gutter ball at the box-office.  It should score better in its digital form, just don’t expect getting a strike.