The Jesus Rolls


The Jesus Rolls is a 2019 American crime comedy film written by, directed by and starring John Turturro, to double as a remake of the 1974 French film Going Places by Bertrand Blier, and as a spin-off to the 1998 cult film The Big Lebowski by the Coen brothers, in which Turturro reprises his role as Jesus Quintana.
Filmed in 2016, the film had its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival on October 16, 2019. It was released on February 28, 2020, by Screen Media Films.

Plot

Like the original Going Places, it follows a trio of sexually depraved misfits, played by John Turturro, Bobby Cannavale and Audrey Tautou.

Cast

The Coen brothers, who wrote, directed, and produced The Big Lebowski, stated on several occasions that they would never make a Lebowski sequel. However, John Turturro expressed keen interest in reprising his role as Jesus at least since 2002. Despite not being one of the film's writers, most of Jesus' character came from Turturro's own ideas, which led the Coens to give him a bigger place in the film. In 2014, Turturro announced that he had requested permission from the Coens to use the character.
In August 2016, it was announced that Turturro, after being granted the right to use the character of Jesus by the Coens, had already started filming the spin-off, which he would also write and direct. Filming locations included New York City and Los Angeles. It was also announced the film would be a remake of the 1974 French film Going Places directed by Bertrand Blier, which was itself based on his own novel Les valseuses. The film was originally supposed to be titled 100 Minutes with Jesus before being re-titled Going Places. With its acquisition by Screen Media Films, the film's title was changed again to The Jesus Rolls.
The film was produced by Sidney Kimmel, John Penotti, Fernando Sulichin, Paul-Dominique Vacharsinthu and Robert Salerno.

Release

It had its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival on October 16, 2019. The film was theatrically released in Italy on October 17, 2019, and in the United States on February 28, 2020 by Screen Media Films.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 21% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 4.67/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "The Jesus Rolls limply into the gutter in its misguided attempt to belatedly explore the saga of a supporting character better left on the margins." Metacritic calculated a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".