Plot
A self-professed biblical archaeologist who has fallen on hard times starts to bend the truth in order to continue inspiring the faithful.
Release Year: 2015
Rating: 6.0/10 (170 voted)
Critic's Score: /100
Director: Jared Hess
Stars: Sam Rockwell, Amy Ryan, Jemaine Clement
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.
Trivia:
Popular YouTube celebrities "Rhett & Link" met Rockwell on a plane while he was learning his lines for this film. Link mentioned in a podcast that Rockwell was listening to a monotone voice listing his lines to help him learn them. See more »
User Review
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Rating:
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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