The Jesus Rolls is a 2019 American crime comedy film written by, directed by, and starring John Turturro. It doubles as a remake of the 1974 French film Going Places by Bertrand Blier, and as a spin-off to the 1998 cult film The Big Lebowski by the Coen brothers. Turturro reprises his Lebowski role of Jesus Quintana.

It was filmed in 2016 and premiered at the Rome Film Festival on October 16, 2019. It was released on February 28, 2020, by Screen Media Films. It was a box office bomb and received generally negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Jesus Quintana is released from prison. But first he is warned by the warden that one more strike will get him locked up for good. The warden also thanks him for winning bowling tournaments for the prison. His friend, Petey is waiting for him outside.

They go into town and look around. They find a classic muscle car and steal it. Quintana drives them to his mother's house. His mom is having sex with a man who Quintana kicks out. He gives her some money and they have dinner. Petey and Quintana return the car to where it was parked and the owner confronts them. He pulls a gun on them. His girlfriend, Marie recognizes Quintana. Petey runs away. The owner shoots Petey in the testicles and Quintana beats the owner up. Petey, Quintana, and Marie take off in the car. They exchange cars at a chop shop. Quintana takes Petey to a doctor to get the bullet fragment extracted and learns it only pierced the scrotum. They rob the doctor. Marie stays behind and cuts the chop shop mechanic's hair. Petey and Quintana return and have the mechanic damage the muscle car's brakes and structural integrity. Petey, Quintana, and Marie take off in the other car. 

They go to a store and buy some stuff and then go to a restaurant to eat. Petey and Quintana take off after seeing cops. They steal two bicycles and are chased by farmers. Marie leaves the restaurant and is chased for not paying the bill. Petey and Quintana steal another car, drive to train tracks, hop out, and board a train. They get off the train and watch a woman breast feed her infant in a train station. Marie finds them there and angrily confronts them for deserting her. The three board another train. They find a house to stay at. Quintana washes Petey. Marie tells them that the owner of the car, Paul has sold it. Petey has sex with Marie while Quintana watches and cheers them on. Marie explains to them that she makes loves with everyone and has had sex with thousands. They break into Paul's beauty salon and steal the money. Marie freaks out and attacks the other two. They tie her up and leave her at the salon. The two of them go bowling. Quintana dances with a woman at the bowling alley. She yells at him and leaves.

The two of them go to a woman's prison and pick up a recently released inmate, Jean. They take her to a store and she buys clothes. They go eat at a restaurant on the beach where Jean talks to the owner about her menstrual cycle. Then they head to a motel and Petey and Quintana have sex with Jean who then shoots and kills herself. The two of them flee and go to back to the house they were at earlier where Marie is waiting.

They discover that Jean has a son, Jack who is getting out of prison the next day. Petey and Quintana pick Jack up. The three of them go to a cabin in the woods where Marie is waiting and have breakfast. Jack has sex with Marie and Quintana and Petey go fishing. The four of them go to rob someone Jack knows. Jack shoots the man, a corrections officer, who has nothing, and just continues to stand around outside while the other three take off. They steal another car and leave the city. At a gas station, Petey and Quintana read, in a newspaper, that they're wanted in the shooting of the officer. They steal a smart car and eventually pull over for Marie to pee by a lake. At the side of the road is a muscle car that belongs to people who are on a boat on the lake. Quintana, Petey, and Marie steal the muscle car and leave the smart car behind. Later the car loses control as the foundation comes loose. The breaks are jammed and they crash. After which they realize it was Paul's car from earlier with a new paint and body job. It crashed because of the damage that was inflicted on it by them at the chop shop. They start to hitchhike.

Cast

Production 
The Coen brothers, who wrote, directed, and produced The Big Lebowski, stated on several occasions that they would never make a Lebowski sequel. However, John Turturro expressed keen interest in reprising his role as Jesus at least since 2002. Most of the development of the Jesus character came from Turturro as an actor, which led the Coens to give him a bigger place in the film. In 2014, Turturro announced that he had requested permission from the Coens to use the character.

In August 2016, it was announced that Turturro had been granted the right to use the character of Jesus by the Coens (who were not involved in the production), and had already started filming the spin-off, which he wrote and directed. Filming locations included New York City and Los Angeles. The film was a remake of the 1974 French film Going Places directed by Bertrand Blier, which was based on Blier's own novel Les valseuses. The working titles were 100 Minutes with Jesus and then Going Places. The film was completed in 2017 and with its acquisition by Screen Media Films, the title was changed to The Jesus Rolls.

The film was produced by Sidney Kimmel, John Penotti, Fernando Sulichin, Paul-Dominique Vacharsinthu, and Robert Salerno.

Release 
Its world premiere was at the Rome Film Festival on October 16, 2019. It was theatrically released in Italy on October 17, 2019, and in the United States on February 28, 2020, by Screen Media Films.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of , based on  reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "The Jesus Rolls limply into the gutter in its misguided attempt to belatedly explore the saga of a supporting character better left on the margins." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
	
Deborah Young  of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Though Turturro turned this small part into a memorable character for the Coens, Quintana is not so reliably funny here, especially headlining a whole film of very intermittent charm."
Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "In the end, the project doesn't really work. The Coen brothers have a touch for the absurd, and a gift for dialogue, that's lacking here, and without those two qualities, Jesus wears out his welcome relatively early in the journey."

References

External links 
 
 

American crime comedy films
American independent films
2010s crime comedy films
Film spin-offs
The Big Lebowski
2019 films
Films directed by John Turturro
American remakes of French films
2010s English-language films
2019 independent films
2010s American films
English-language crime comedy films
Films based on works by Bertrand Blier
Screen Media films