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At some point, within the tirade of racial
jokes Silverman willingly passes, and within the admissions of peeing in
her bed, and having unusual body hair, you have to wonder. If she was an
ugly utterly huge woman, would we be okay with this? If a heavy woman
went on stage and said “I pooed a little,” would we still laugh? It just
seems that just because Sarah Silverman is basically good looking, it’s
okay to say this stuff, and get out of jail free because—well, she’s
hot. And in some way, she seems to know this, and that’s why instead of
groaning, the audience simply laughs. I like Sarah Silverman. She’s
funny, quick with the put downs, and is very pretty, but “Jesus is
Magic” is an uneven balance of skits, musical numbers and stand up
comedy, neither of which as uproarious as I would have wished and hoped
for. Perhaps it just takes a certain kind of audience to understand this
film, as all comedians have their niche following, but I just found it
all so flat.
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Especially the musical numbers.
Silverman doesn’t take herself seriously, she doesn’t seem
vain, and she has a pretty voice, then why does the number
“You’re Dying” come off so utterly bland, even in the face
of her pig tails and evident charisma? She mocks how using
certain jokes would make her sound “edgy,” but she seems to
be drowning in her own irony. She just blurts out anything
to gauge audience laughter and be deemed outrageous! Using
Chinks, Nigger, and calling midgets midget’s really feels
like Silverman is anxious for a laugh.
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And she’s anxious for controversy, because
people these days are pussies, and they’ll cry about anything, a la bad
(read good) publicity. Take for example her point that strippers should
be role models for little girls, and, her rather dull exploration of her
boyfriend dumping her being accused on his low self-esteem. “Jesus is
Magic” really isn’t anything new, and that’s why it’s so damn
disappointing. Silverman insists on singing every ten minutes, Silverman
insists on bringing up race for no particular reason, and Silverman goes
for many fail safe’s. Lesbians, black people, the Holocaust, the Nazis,
and even recruiting her comedian friends to appear every so often, it’s
reaching.
And that’s sad, because Silverman is great. She’s hilarious, she knows
how to put folks to shame with her insults, but she can’t quite grasp
what she wants with “Jesus is Magic.” She wants to be vulnerable and
vulgar, likable and disgusting, and it shows as she shoots out a race
joke and then apologetically harps on it, and then we cut to rather odd
skits that pretty much aren’t funny when Silverman repeats them again
on-stage. Silverman can never stick to one formula long enough to make
“Jesus is Magic” feel cohesive and coherent. So, it’s uneven, pretty
unfunny, and just a waste of seventy-five minutes.
I love racist jokes, I love poo jokes, and
hell I love a good song or two… seriously. But damn, Sarah Silverman
just didn’t know what she wanted with “Jesus is Magic,” and it shows.
It’s a brutally disappointing and unfunny movie for such a hilarious
woman.
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