The Book of Clarence (2024)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Psalms Before the Storm

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Jeymes Samuel's second feature after the Western The Harder They Fall is a king-sized Biblical epic, a wickedly funny comedy, and a bold examination of race and faith, and even if it doesn't always find balance, it's often electrifying.

Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield) is the misfit twin brother of Thomas, one of the apostles of Jesus of Nazareth. Clarence is a thief and a seller of "herbs," who is always cooking up schemes and getting himself and his friend Elijah (RJ Cyler) into trouble.

Now, thanks to a gamble on a chariot race that ended badly, he owes money to the dangerous Jedediah (Eric Kofi-Abrefa). To make matters worse, he's in love with Jedediah's sister, Varinia (Anna Diop).

His first plan is to become the 13th apostle, but, as a non-believer, his attempts are laughed at. To prove himself, he tries to free several gladiator slaves, but succeeds only in liberating Barabbas "the Invincible" (Omar Sy).

Suddenly, he gets the idea to become the next messiah himself, performing "tricks" and preaching knowledge over faith. But as the money comes rolling in, Clarence begins to have a crisis of conscience.

The Book of Clarence is broken up into three parts, or "Books," the titles of each designed to look like a 1950s-60s Biblical epic (The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, Spartacus, etc.).

The first two parts are hilarious, and energetic, finding ways to slip modern cadence into the world of 33 A.D. Jerusalem, as well as some eye-opening camerawork and weird FX, such as characters floating, carefree, after smoking a hookah. (Samuel's anachronistic soundtrack is full of original hip-hop, funk, and disco tunes as well.)

The dialogue offers a lively discourse on faith and logic, and Stanfield, with his soft, vulnerable face, his cool swagger, and his unfailing comic timing, makes a commanding "messiah." Taken along with the fact that he also plays his own twin brother, it's a fantastic performance.

However, the third book changes everything. It drops the humor almost entirely, and leans into faith and genuine miracles, but it also looks into concepts of perception and storytelling that bear continued pondering. The Book of Clarence is unwieldy and sometimes perplexing, but also ambitious, audacious, and worth celebrating.