NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from the Virginia Film Festival. Child of God opens at the Angelika Pop-Up on August 1st.
Whatever one thinks of James Franco as an actor, he's deserving of some serious props behind the camera, at least for not being a pansy in the projects he decides to take on. In fact he seems to thrive on the challenge of directing films many would steer clear of, or adapting novels deemed unfilmmable. We've seen this many times before with his Hart Crane biopic; his Sundance-debuting Interior Leather Bar; and this summer's William Faulkner adaptation As I Lay Dying. How successful Franco was in these ventures is a matter of debate, and that's likely to be the case with Child of God, based on the novel by celebrated author Cormac McCarthy.

The local sheriff (Tim Blake Nelson) knows Lester is trouble but lets him be, in some small way showing the only measure of concern for the man. Lester continues to deteriorate, though, especially after a woman falsely accuses him of rape. When Lester finds a dead couple by the side of the road, he has sex with the woman's corpse then takes her to his home to live out some sort of weird marital existence driven by necrophilia. When her body burns in a fire, Lester loses what little bits of sanity remained and goes on a killing spree murdering young women in an effort to replace the one he lost.

And yet the visceral, powerful performance by Haze overshadows much of the film's major issues. Snarling like a cornered animal and speaking in gutteral, broken English that probably should have been subtitled, Haze sinks into a role that calls him to do some pretty heinous stuff, and very nearly makes Lester someone we can sympathize.
Child of God is another ambitious effort by Franco, but there's a reason why others have had so much difficulty bringing it to the screen. While it's not all his fault the film doesn't work, one has to count Child of God as another interesting failure on his resume.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5