Jeymes Samuels, otherwise known as The Bullitts, directed The Harder They Fall a couple of years ago. That was his take on the Western genre and now he takes a stag at the biblical/sword and sandals genre with The Book of Clarence.  Will he deliver another stellar film or make something that falls short of his last movie? We will see.

Clarence (LaKieth Stanfield) and his friend Elijah (RJ Cyler) are just a couple of guys who are looking to make a quick buck. They are involved in chariot races, but when they lose their lives are in danger from a local tough guy. With his life in the balance if he doesn’t come up with the money he owes the boss he decides to change his ways. Like his twin brother, he tries to follow the word of Jesus. This doesn’t turn out the way he thought it would though and he gets into worse trouble with the Romans who rule the land at this time in history.

Samuels fills this biblical epic with many Black actresses and actors we as film and television fans have come to know over the years. The cast is staked with amazing performances from David Oyelowo as John the Baptist,  Nicholas Pinnock as Jesus Christ, Alfre Woodard as Mother Mary, and many others too numerous to list here. Benedict Cumberbatch as Jesus look alike and James McAvoy as Punties Pilot also have key roles in the film. The cast is a who’s who of talented actors and actresses.

Samuels turned the Western genre upside down and now he does the exact same thing with this film. Where previously we’ve seen biblical epics like Spartacus, Ben Hurr, and The Ten Commandments filled with White actors and actresses he chose to use Black actors and actresses in the place of White. The story is equally effective even though there is a comedic element to it. Some things are played up as funny but overall this is a very serious film.

The production design and costumes are key elements that brought me into this film and story right away. The sets looked authentic while the costumes everybody wore looked very authentic as well. This film had the look and feel of the biblical epics it was trying to mimic from years gone by. If the story wasn’t so good all of this may have been for not. Similar to The Life of Brian this movie had a wink-wink kind of story. Where you didn’t know if Samuels was being serious or not until you found out he was being serious with this story.

LaKieth Stanfield had a lot of heavy lifting to do in this movie because he was playing twins. That couldn’t have been easy on his part. Once the comedic aspects were in the rearview though did some exceptional work. He put this film on his shoulders like nobody else could. He usually is a supporting actor in movies like Judas and the Black Messiah but this leading performance as this man seeking enlightenment suited him to a tee. He made a lot of sense as this character, and he made the most of the role of Clarence. 

Samuels knew what he wanted to accomplish with this story and film. He wanted to show that Blacks were in ancient times and they were a very prominent race during this era in history. He may have gone a little overboard with his casting choices though, even though for the most part they were spot on. McAvoy and Cumberbatch ate up the scenery when they were on screen. Taking attention away from others. The main idea was prevalent though. 

The Book of Clarence doesn’t do anything new for the biblical/sword and sandals genre, but what it does do is very good. It put a Black lens on this genre where previously there wasn’t one. Even though there were a lot of funny moments, Samuel and the cast took the material relatively seriously. The cast as a whole, but specifically LaKieth Stanfield, is exceptional. The production design and costumes brought me into this historic world right away. It never felt out of place in the sets that were built or locations used for the film.  This should garner a lot of viewers because of the unique nature of the story.

3 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen