God's Lonely Man (1996) User Reviews

A film over child prostitution, snuff and drug abuse. A tale of loneliness and chaos.

[jimqt · 10/10 · 12 March 2006]

I find this film excellent. The depiction of Ernest's isolation and loneliness where haunting. Especially the scene where in order to feel something anything he cuts his own finger off.

The plot is similar to Taxi driver with an ending equally unclear. It appears that Ernest loses his scruples over Christiane being underage and ends up having a relationship with her. The scene where she has toothpaste smeared over her mouth at the end is very erotic. Heather McComb although 19 at the time played a very believable 14 year old.

The scene where Ernest takes revenge on the killer's of Christanes sister was effective. Overall a Lolita movie with perverse themes as snuff and peepshow and drug abuse. Child prostitution is also highlighted.

Overtoons of Christianne F. and Taxi driver.

Would like to know more about the directer Frank Von Zerneck Jr. It appears to be the only film he ever made. I wonder if he was as weird as his film.

Still i like weird Lolita films and this was a great one.

Jimq

By far a noteworthy movie.

[olifant- · 16 September 1999]

Obviously It is not a commercial production. I mean you assume a movie is successful on a basis of the tickets sold. I address my review to the anonymous Mexican's comment written above. What we should judge in a work is its quality and what you call a 'nonsense story' It's actually the plot. The 'loser' you talk about, the main character, represents the weakness of the man within the society. So depression, despair, loneliness are expressing the difficulty of a man in having a role in the society. A movie is usually successful when there are a winner, empathy, a nice end, some nice girl and a nice environment. But it's just leisure, it's fake. The main character of this movie faces reality and suggest a way to deal with it, even if it's losing. Thanks.

Too much like Taxi Driver

[t-bickle-3 · 1/10 · 14 June 2008]

Okay, I have watched the first ten minutes and I'm too distracted by the fact this film looks way too much like Taxi Driver.

Influence is one thing.

But here, almost everything resembles Taxi Driver. The main character looks like Bickle, tries to talk like him, etc. Even the wardrobe! This is too distracting. It feels like too much of a rip off.

From what I understand, even the plot will be similar as well.

This is almost embarrassing to keep watching.

I almost want to hit this actor. You are not De Niro! Stop it. He even tries to make the same facial expressions.

You should cast this guy perhaps in a Taxi Driver spoof. At least then all of this would be intentional.

This movie really touched me

[omriba · 10/10 · 10 June 2001]

My first thoughts after seeing this movie was a mixture of excitement and appreciation;after a while I still think that that's one of the best films I have ever seen.The movie is about Ernest,a lonely and suicidal drug user with an excellent performance by Michael Wyle.Ernest is a strange,depressed and mostly an insecure person who looks for a bit of love.he is fired from his job after harassing the daughter of his boss and begins something like a journey of self-redemption when he joins a 15 year old hooker who lost her sister to a gang that produces and sells snuff films.throughout their relationship Ernest is functioning as a guarding angel to Christiane,but as to himself his mind moves from reality to illusions,until the surprising but unavoidable ending. The movie was so chilling and depressing that it leaves you empty spiritually and emotionally;a movie that should have got a better recognition,but yet,it's not too late to get acquainted with it.

By far the worst movie ever.

[gavioto · 1/10 · 7 January 1999]

Movies usually take about 2 or 3 months to come to Mexico because cinemas have to assure that the movies they bring are successful movies. I don't know how this one made to Mexico. A nonsense story about a loser that is kind of possessed and finally tries to kill himself but somehow he doesn't. It's without a doubt the worst movie ever.

A great tale about loneliness

[fferraez · 10/10 · 8 August 2000]

Thank God this great film came to Mexico. It's the kind of movie that deserved better luck in the whole world. The history is terrific and touching, it's about a lonely junkie in his way to self-destruction, then he knows a girl as troubled as him, who -someway- gives hope to his life. It's by far the best 90's update for Scorsese's "Taxi Driver", and the "romantic" story reminds me of Luc Besson's "Leon". A must see if you like movies for a reason beyond pure entertainment.

A relentless tribute to the ongoing legacy of Taxi Driver

[Mattydee74 · 23 May 2001]

In the years since I saw this film in 1997, it remains a dark, desolate, haunting experience which repeated viewings have not diminished. Its a strong film which gets inside the alienated yearning of a central character, Ernest, whose love and passion is undercut by self-hatred and fear of his own invisibility. The resemblance to Travis Bickle from "Taxi Driver" is a welcome reminder that the cinema can still seek out the painful, destructive and lost characters that were far more frequently and successfully envisioned in 1970s films. Its not really a pastiche or mockery as some critics on its release argued. Rather its a re-examination of the place of someone like Travis Bickle in another time. Its also based on a true story. This gut-wrenching film has a fearsome score reminiscent of "The Exorcist" (even the credits evoke that film). It succeeds best in those moments where Ernest and 15 year old Chrsitiane seek to establish a truthful relationship. Its not an easy film and the performance of Michale Wyle is jarring on a first viewing but in time the truth of his performance shines. Morally the film is complex and the violence is excessive.

Superb!

[princy · 8/10 · 22 December 2000]

This is definitely the 'Taxi Driver' of the 90's. The acting was first rate in this film which makes me wonder why I have never heard much of the lead actors, and even more so the director. No stereotypes or formulated storyline, just gritty realism in this film which is a breath of fresh air.

Recommended

Hard Hitting West Coast "Taxi Driver"

[raegan_butcher · 10/10 · 27 October 2006]

An intense and touching performance by Michael Wyle drives God's Lonely Man, a gritty powder keg of a film that plays like an updated west coast version of Taxi Driver, its most obvious influence. Indeed, some may dismiss God's Lonely Man as nothing more than a pastiche but I strongly disagree. The central performance by Michael Wyle is reason enough to see the film—he has the uncanny ability to go from Deniro-like intensity to almost Woody Allenesque neurosis in the blink of an eye; it's an entirely convincing piece of acting and his tortured-loser persona had me rooting for him from the first reel to the end credits.

Paul Dooly shows courage for taking the part of a creepy child pornographer and Tom Towles proves he can do more to suggest hidden depths of depravity in one scene than most actors can in an entire film.

The writing is good, the characterizations dead-on and there are some genuinely unnerving touches that set a tone for mid 90s Los Angeles that is every bit as decayed and frightening as anything seen in the New York of Taxi Driver or Bringing Out the Dead. In contrast to those two films, which are steeped in darkness & the stylings of noir, most of God's Lonely Man transpires in the daytime--but the sunlight provides no comfort or protection. It's a nightmare world of Porno shops and AA meetings where sirens scream on the soundtrack at unexpected times accompanied by the sound of children crying while crack-dealers abuse their customers in sleazy passive-aggressive power games.

A scene set in a baseball-park where a child pornographer peddles his wares (right during the little league game he is coaching) carries a slimy, unsettling edge that reminded me of the fiction of Andrew Vachss in its depiction of evil lurking just under the surface of wholesome everyday appearances.

The violence, when it comes, isn't as over the top or nightmarishly gory as Taxi Driver but it packs a wallop.

God's lonely great movie

[videorama-759-859391 · 9/10 · 2 November 2014]

What makes Indie films so fantastic is that there is such of pool of them to choose from, and a lot are so original, which heralds some new and talented directors, a lot of them, young pups. This one is unflinching, frank, in your face movie, about one guy's unfeasible escape from loneliness, where again we have that stereotypical profile of a loner, who can't build up the courage to ask Justine Bateman out. Our loner hero character, Ernest, a Travis Bickle for the Nineties, works at a video shop, Bateman's dad owns. Like a lot of loners, he displays all the traits of loners: unease around strangers, a movie buff, a bragger, an inability to ask girls out, self conscious tendencies, as well as violent mood swings, as well as a taste for violence. A young girl befriends him, where soon he's her protector, whatever, where he becomes killer/crusader. He rescues the young girl from her abusive environment, and tracks down some bad dudes, who used the girl at a younger age in skin flicks, where for her sister, it didn't have such a happy ending. There are some disturbing moments in this confronting film, where we meet some pretty sick puppies who were responsible for these flicks (you'll never look at Sixteen Candle's Paul Dooley the same way again) They also involved snuff, where I must say, one scene, just thinking of it now, involving two players, a mother and daughter, expendables, sickened me, sending a bad swallow through me. It's a great moment of revenge, watching Ernest do away with these creeps. GLM was directed by someone who had a fancy three word name, and what he's created here, is an excellent daring piece, that of course won't appeal to everyone, though loners will of course identify with. There is some disturbing violence, one, involving self mutilation. For the Indie or Art-house connoisseur, you will no doubt like or love this one. It's in the cards. A excellent film with an all too frank reality. Highly recommended.

Uneven but still reasonably interesting homage to 'Taxi Driver'.

[Infofreak · 28 January 2003]

'God's Lonely Man' is allegedly "inspired by fact" so when watching this obvious homage to 'Taxi Driver' it raises some interesting questions regarding fact and fiction, what is real and what isn't. Almost any movie compared to Scorsese's masterpiece can't help but come off second best, but Gaspar Noe managed to make a brilliant and disturbing movie inspired by the same source (1998's 'I Stand Alone') so there's really no reason why Von Zerneck Jr couldn't have done the same. Unfortunately 'God's Lonely Man' doesn't entirely convince. Maybe it is Michael Wyle in the lead role, I dunno, but something just doesn't ring true, and his character's eventual freak out seems forced and unreal. Much better I thought was Heather McComb ('Apt Pupil') who gives a strong performance which shows a lot of promise. The best scene by far in the film was the movie screening involving an unusually cast but very effective Paul Dooley ('Sixteen Candles') and the very creepy Tom Towles ('Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer'). That was powerful, shocking and unexpected. If the rest of the movie had been as good as that it would have been another story, but as is, this is an uneven, sometimes dull and frustrating movie, which even so JUST has enough good bits to make it worth watching. Many others think much more highly of this movie than me, but I can't say it impressed me all that much.

Taxi Driver in grungy 90s LA with further detail into the insanity/delusions/psychology

[Henry_Krinkle4545 · 10/10 · 18 September 2020]

Just as good as Taxi Driver; despite following a similar plot, there's plenty of subtle differences, and not just in setting. There's far greater exploration of Ernest's mental state, and this is the best picture I've seen that sums up the despair of '90s LA, something that's rarely focussed on. Brilliant and criminally underrated film that keeps you hooked from start to finish; it's a massive shame the director/star have not seen additional success.

Decent movie - bad DVD

[KGitt44498 · 30 August 2003]

The other poster pretty much outlined the plot, so I will not repeat it here.

Heather McComb is the only actor I knew in this movie and is the main reason I watched it. Because of a previous role as a 14 year old 4 years earlier, it was a bit of a stretch to believe the now 18-19 year old actress as, again, a 14 year old character, Christiane. However, she did convey some juvenile personality and was very good overall.

The male lead actor, Michael Wyle, was pretty good too, and had many quirks and mannerisms that (I guess) are consistent with his coke head character, Ernest. I wondered throughout the movie how he could afford all his drugs with his crappy job.

The movie is clearly influenced by Taxi Driver, and in fact, I was going to call this review "Taxi Driver Without the Taxi". There is a narration that sounds very similar to Travis Bickle's voice and his comments, and the older male develops a relationship with an underage prostitute, eventually gunning down all the perps. It is not a straight ripoff or homage, but you easily make the connection.

There is also some influence by the book/movie "Christiane F." (about young druggy/prostitutes in Berlin) and the director reveals his one-time near obsession with the book in the commentary. (Great book by the way, but very depressing even though it has an eventual happy-ish ending).

Surprisingly, there is no nudity or sex, although some of the scenes are inside an adult bookstore. The whole subplot of the "special" porn movie that Ernest eventually arranges to see in order to locate the perps is overdone and a bit of a let down (it's 5 minutes long we are told, and costs $1000 to see it once, and $5000 to buy). The bad guy is "sure" this is what Ernest wants to see, although the subject matter is never discussed. If I was paying that kind of money, I would want to have an idea what it was about. I won't spoil it for you, but I found the 30 seconds we are shown to be not erotic. Like I say, this major subplot is very weak.

Not being religious myself, there were a few religious overtones and symbols that were not crystal clear to me.

I rate the movie at 3 stars, a little better than average, but this is also a DVD review, and here is the bad news.

The "behind the scenes featurette" is worthless. It is just rough VCR quality footage of people milling around. No narration, no introduction of the unknown people we are seeing, and worst of all, the sound is very bad.

Although there is a commentary, there is no movie sound at all, so you don't know what the characters are saying, and therefore in many cases, we don't know exactly what the 3 commentators are talking or laughing about. Normally, we could just pop the subtitles on while listening to the commentary but there are no subtitles available on the DVD.

Bottom line - Great movie for fans of Heather or Michael, decent movie on its own, and a pricey DVD for such badly done extras.