Fresh and Exciting

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

I think that 5.5 is a harsh score for such a good (maybe not a word that applies to this story, as it is sheer "horror" but...) adaption of the book (it should be noted that it is not an exact replication of the story in the book). 7 out of 10, not for the story but for the job done in making it.A lot of people love to hate on Mr. Franco it would seem, personally I don't get it but that's their business I reckon. What I can talk about is his direction of this movie and, in my opinion, he did a great job with the material. Like I said the story is sheer horror and selected (selected audience that is) viewing is HIGHLY recommended. Perhaps only people familiar with the book should watch this film, seriously it's not for the faint of heart.The acting is excellent all round, especially Mr. Haze's performance as Lester Ballard, scary stuff indeed. Locations are beautiful and the scene (props etc.) is set very well.All in all, a "good" film for people that like disturbing movies.

First off, I am a huge Cormac McCarthy fan, currently reading my 9th of his 10 novels. Child of God isn't one of my favorite novels of McCarthy's but it was still better than 95% of novels released in the last 30 years. This movie's subject matter and plot are already going to reduce the audience to a small percent of would be viewers. I say plot, but McCarthy's novels are rarely, if ever, plot driven focusing more on the human condition. This novel is no different and thus the movie will have only a mild appeal to those who watch it for the plot. All that said, the main actor is magnificent. He could not done better given the direction and role he had to play in my opinion and what really made this movie enjoyable for me. The rest just is a side show, at least for me.

Scott Haze pulls off a strong lead performance as the highly disturbing loner Lester Ballard who lives his life based on his rules and not societies or any laws can convince him otherwise.He's a truly twisted character whom I doubt anyone can find likable and he has no regards for the living or the dead and early on we find out that he has an affection for killing animals.I will not go into details but he manages to do a lot of sick stuff through out the running time of the movie and at times it's a little hard to watch.If you're a sensitive soul know that this movie is rated R for a good reason, just within the first 10 minutes the lead is taking a crap (for real) visibly for the audience to see, never seen that before in a movie and hopefully this will be the last.Although I can't say I "liked it" I didn't dislike it either as it had it's moments and the performances were stellar and it did keep my interest so I give it a 6.Although it is on the slow side, compared to James Franco's previous directorial effort AS I LIE DYING it's really not and I found that one simply boring where as this managed to keep your interest at least.James Franco appears on the poster but I think that's more due to the fact he's directing and wrote the screenplay as he's only acting in it for 2 scenes.

I like James Franco. He is no doubt a very talented actor and very smart academician-a PHD candidate for sure. I though he was supreme as the meth huffing villain in Home-front, the weed-dealing side-kick in Pineapple Express and as Harry Osbourne for sure. But at the helm of interpreting Cormac McCarthy's worst and most depraved screenplay onto film? This movie is utter trash. Though the actor playing Lester Ballard is truly magnificent, I still can't help but to picture him gumming and grimacing his way through his lines like the unholy impunity of a constipated Charlton Heston in The Planet of the Apes as essentially a waste of his talent. Is this character a troglodyte man-ape or a severely traumatized boy who saw his father hanged and his mother abandon him. Did we really have to see him portrayed as Ben Stiller's retarded character in Tropic of Thunder? This was a opportunity to portray a multi-layered, complex character with elements of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, developmental trauma and child abuse, driven to necrophilia. James, I respect your artistic vision, but please take a hint from The Road.