Variety reports that Michael Sheen (“Frost/Nixon”) and Toni Collette will be headlining the family-comedy “Jesus Henry Christ.” The film is being directed by Dennis Lee, who is basing the feature off of his 2003 Academy Award-winning student film of the same name.
The story follows a boy, conceived in a petri dish, that discovers a whole new world upon meeting his half-sister. He eventually finds way to his biological father’s whereabouts, and (we bet) hilarity ensues. Sheen will play the professor/author who is also the father of the boy, and Collette will play the left-wing feminist mother.
If the premise sounds a bit familiar, then you’ve been following coverage and reviews on the much anticipated Sundance-killer “The Kids are All Right,” starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, and Annette Bening. While they have their differences (switch out feminist mother for lesbian couple, professor/author father for laidback, easy-going dude), the comparisons will be inevitable and may not bode well for this film. There’s also the fact that this director’s first feature, “Fireflies in the Garden,” has yet to be released, even boasting a cast of Ryan Reynolds, Julia Roberts, and Emily Watson. We haven’t seen it, but a quick peak at Rotten Tomatoes has the picture at 25%, with even the positive reviews noting that it is rather forgettable. If anything, the director at least impressed Julia Roberts, as she’s one of the four producers on the new “Jesus Henry Christ.”
With his other film being described as “dull and tedious,” it will prove difficult to set this picture to follow the critically acclaimed and delightful “The Kids are All Right.” Hopefully the director’s a little more lively with this comedy. Collette has been wowing with her television series “United States of Tara,” and Sheen has been paychecking it since “Frost/Nixon,” so maybe the two can find some energy in their chemistry and run with it. Who knows, maybe the film can end up being entertaining and rich, and maybe it will set itself apart from the aforementioned similar film and audiences won’t even notice the similarities.
The film began shooting in Toronto this week, so if you’re in the area and you see Collette burning bras and protesting Spike TV, then… you know why.