Storyline
Hired by an ambitious small-town pastor to find sacred relics in the Holy Land, a self-proclaimed Biblical archaeologist comes up short and his attempt to cover up his failure fuels a comic conspiracy from the filmmaking team behind Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. DON VERDEAN stars Sam Rockwell, Amy Ryan, Jemaine Clement, Leslie Bibb, with Will Forte, and Danny McBride.User Reviews
Don
Verdean Sundance Film Festival Director: Jared Hess Since the sleeper
success of 2004's Napoleon Dynamite, Jared and Jerusha Hess have had an
interesting track record. Regardless of how their work is received by
audiences and critics, they have maintained a cinematic style that is,
to say the least, unique. Don Verdean (Sam Rockwell) is a biblical
scholar and archaeologist who has built his career on excavating and
preserving artifacts from the good book —the film's opening scene
features an antiquated documentary in which Verdean tracks down the
shears that Delilah used to cut Samson's hair. After his career slows
down, he, his Israeli fixer Boaz (Jemaine Clement), and his research
assistant Carol (Amy Ryan) agree to a contract with Tony Lazarus (Danny
McBride) to track down more artifacts in order to keep his congregation
from joining that of Pastor Fontaine (Will Forte), a former Satanist
turned Christian. As pressures mount, Verdean begins to compromise his
standards in pursuit of "filthy lucre," as Boaz puts it. From an acting
perspective, the performances are great. Rockwell and Clement have great
comedic chemistry, and Amy Ryan grounds the film with her genuine
sincerity. That being said, there is still something indulgent in this
film— almost like team Hess has packed it full of inside jokes that only
resonate with themselves. It might be time for them to come out and
play with the rest of us. –Alex Springer
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