The World's Greatest Sinner

One of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Timothy Carey was a real deal nutbar, making a mockery of this thing we call acting. He's brilliant, seething, sarcastic, slimy, predatory; you can see exactly why Zappa liked him (and wrote some of the music for this movie). The end credit reveal for this is funnier than most movies.

This movie gets a lot of points from me for originality, and some of the dialogue at the beginning is fantastic. Carey is weird and wonderful, as usual. But by the end I felt the film didn't quite fulfill the promise it shows closer to the opening. Well worth seeing for the oddity it is.

A whole lot of crazy. It's often difficult to discern what parts are satire and what parts are sincere, but at the very least it's a humorous take on organized religion. The film is undeniably rough. The acting, besides Carey, is awful. The editing is shabby. The dialogue needs work. But there are quite a few very good shots, and the Zappa score is very interesting. If you want to see Carey wear a snake, make out with an elderly woman, and stab a communion wafer, this is the place to go.

Timothy Carey walked so Frank Zappa could run; he gives him a gig composing this film as his big break and the title track fucking slaps, preceding the lunacy that was Timothy Carey's portrayal of a madman that achieves too much power in very little time (see also A Face in the Crowd, the 45th US President). Technically leaves a lot to be desired but it's made up for everywhere else; performance, concept, dialogue, madness.

It’s fitting that the only movie from a Hollywood figure as bizarre as Timothy Carey would be such a labour of love and such a complete shambles. His brash, unhinged spirit is admirable but sadly this never translates to anything approaching entertainment, as his gonzo, messianic screed is neither funny nor coherent enough to work on any intended level. It’s as though he’s the only one in on the joke.

Kanye West eat your heart out!

Does it completely work aesthetically or on an intellectual level of course not BUT this is autuerism and Carey is the fuckin MAN

Rewatched 2023. Carey's character is a great creation--he is really getting something out of his system--and the ending is instantly memorable. Your ability to make meaning out of and be entertained by this pretty shaky effort will depend on what you value in an auteur and how you feel about politics and culture and the stream that is said to connect them.