Jesus of Suburbia

Author(s): Stefan Arriaga Hernandez
Location: Mexico

“Jesus of Suburbia”

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Adapted from “American Idiot” by Michael Arndt
Music by Green Day and Thomas Newman

Principal Cast:

Matt O’Leary Jesus of Suburbia
Jenna Malone Whatsername
Chris Evans St. Jimmy
Steve Carell Brad (Dad)
Drew Barrymore Mom

Tagline: ““He’s the son of rage and love”
“Hold you heart like a hand grenade, December 2007”

Synopsis: Transforming the Grammy winning album “American idiot” into a powerhouse musical, “Jesus of suburbia” tells the story of a young man fed up with his life and with society who adventures into a journey of self-discovery into the streets, and on the way encounters quite the diversity of characters that completely turn around his appreciation of life, human relations and love.

Detailed synopsis: Starting in unnamed, location-less suburbia, the story presents us with the character we will later get to know as the Jesus of Suburbia. Sitting at his dinner table with his mom and step dad, a heated political discussion spirals into the first musical number (American Idiot). After finishing angrily the debate, Jesus of Suburbia locks himself inside his room and begins a monologue which exposes his depression and disappointment in society and mankind. This escalates into the second number where he explains how he hates his life, his town, the people around him, expresses his apathy, then cries out for help for he is confused not knowing if what he feels is normal and finally ends with the decision to leave his house taking up a street life(Jesus of Suburbia). During his first day on the street, out protagonist tells us how he feels about his running from home (Holiday). On the street he meets a few characters, but all of them so different from him he once again feels disappointed, only this time he also feels alone (Boulevard of Broken Dreams). After this fall back into depression, Jesus of Suburbia survives on his own, without human contact in an alley of the unnamed city, stealing and vandalizing. This causes him to doubt his identity for he is now not what he believed (Are We the Waiting?). Falling asleep, the protagonist wakes up to find himself facing a new character. Here enters St. Jimmy who is everything Jesus of Suburbia ever wanted to be, but at the same time a psychotic and dangerous reflection of him (St. Jimmy). After the musical number, Jesus of Suburbia befriends this mysterious character and is soon presented to his ideology and way of life (Jimmy’s Reasoning). Soon the friendship turns into dependency and Jesus of Suburbia cannot find himself without St. Jimmy, who he holds onto for sanity and drugs (Give Me Novocaine). During one of their accustomed vandalizing walks, they meet a girl called Whatsername and Jesus of Suburbia instantly falls for her. After she leaves, St. Jimmy and the protagonist have a dialogue about their opinions on this new found character (She’s A Rebel). After this, Jesus of Suburbia goes looking for Whatsername and finds her, and then she tells him her story (My Name Doesn’t Matter). When they both say good bye to each other and part ways, our protagonist is still embezzled by the beauty and intelligence of Whatsername (Extraordinary Girl). Both characters still frequent each other, but after a debate on the actual situation of mankind in general, Whatsername realizes Jesus of Suburbia isn’t who he thinks he is, and decides to leave him writing a letter and bidding farewell, which ultimately destroys his heart (Letterbomb). After the spiral back into depression St. Jimmy mocks the situation and Jesus of Suburbia’s mistake of falling in love, claiming something like that would never happen to him (Always Right). Then St. Jimmy also leaves Jesus of Suburbia, claiming he never changed and was always a weak link. The protagonist now realizes he is once again alone and decides to go back home, forgetting about St. Jimmy and conforming to society, even getting a job, but still feeling empty and alone, reminiscing about his life on the street and receiving a letter from St. Jimmy telling him all about his rebellious life style, one Jesus of Suburbia envies; finally the character accepts everything, realizing he’s not happy, sad or anything, he’s just there (Homecoming). The musical ends with Jesus of Suburbia remembering Whatsername and how he lost her, trying to think what happened after she left and noticing how all he has of her are memories (Whatsername).

What the press would say:

Cuarón’s turn from sci-fi to movie musical delivers. Grandly. Not only does he manage to maintain the intentions of the band’s punk rock-opera, but one can say he manages to surpass it. From the beginning images of a torn up suburbia, which gives the protagonist his surname, to the final images of a destroyed human being who lost his one and only love, “Jesus of Suburbia” is easily the musical of the present generation. Chock full of special effects during the musical numbers, every one is a voyage into the emotions of the characters singing them. Psychedelic trips, depressing black and white photography or realistic animations are some of the styles presented. The acting is definitely ruled over by former Johnny Storm, Chris Evans. His performance as amoral, spontaneous, muscular and tattooed St. Jimmy, the complete opposite of skinny, insecure and depressed Jesus of Suburbia, steals the show. Evans creates a fully dimensional character out of just a few lyrics used to describe him, presenting us with a character you just love to hate. O’Leary shines as the story’s protagonist, developing and maturing throughout the movie. Having the most musical numbers, he also demonstrates he can truly sing and maintain the emotion throughout the song, something the supporting cast also manages to accomplish. Finally, “Donnie Darko” star Jenna Malone has a small role, compared to the other two actors, but manages to stay fresh and deliver a strong performance. The transformation from an award winning album to a movie is definitely award worthy, just like the album. Arndt manages to maintain the political and social criticism of the songs in the dialogue between the main characters. A flawless script, two wonderful performances from the actors, wonderful new songs created to give more depth to the supporting characters, an impressive quantity of special effects and the beyond perfect directorial work make this punk opera a must see and a must own.

Awards
Best Picture
Best Director – Alfonso Cuarón
Best Adapted Screenplay – Michael Arndt
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Matt O’Leary
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Jenna Malone
Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Chris Evans
Best Original Song – “Jimmy’s reasoning” (Music and lyrics by Green Day and Thomas Newman)
Best Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects