“Oh, wow, I haven’t seen that before.” That’s what the director advised the Hollywood Reporter he hopes individuals will say in regards to the story of the titular protagonist, an atheistic “purveyor of ungodly herbs” performed by LaKeith Stanfield with an earring and mini-dreads. (It’s a secure assumption that many will say precisely that.) In a prologue video clip introducing “Clarence” earlier than a current press screening, the writer-director described his new movie as offering the “historical context” for modern Christian religion whereas on the similar time providing audiences a “wicked dope time” on the motion pictures. And he does each, although not on the similar time, and with differing levels of success.

“Clarence” has the DNA of each “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” and “The Ten Commandments,” alternating between foolish satire and self-serious sermonizing, every of which tends to undercut the opposite.

The story follows Stanfield’s huckster, whom we meet in the course of a drag race between chariots piloted by our hero, assisted by his sidekick Elijah (RJ Cyler), and Mary Magdalene (Teyana Taylor). After Clarence loses not simply the race however the horse and cart, he finds himself in debt to mob boss Jedediah the Terrible (Eric Kofi-Abrefa), a predicament that steers the sad-sack schemer towards new methods to generate income.

Plan A: Become the thirteenth apostle. (Clarence’s pious twin brother Thomas, additionally performed by Stanfield, is among the dozen disciples of Jesus, performed by Nicholas Pinnock as a sanctimonious miracle employee. Apparently, the enterprise of preaching the gospel is profitable.) When that concept doesn’t pan out, Plan B kicks in: Take a web page from the playbook of the Messiah himself and begin performing just a few magic tips round city, conning the gang for shekels, with Elijah as his shill.

It’s a humorous sufficient premise, with standout scenes together with an ungainly confrontation between Clarence and Jesus’ mom, Mary (Alfre Woodard), over her virginity, with a sheepish Joseph standing silently by.

Along the best way, there’s gladiatorial fight blended in with all of the comedy, and a secondary love story between Clarence and Jedediah’s sister (Anna Diop) that comes with a frivolous dance scene at a first-century disco. “The Book of Clarence” just isn’t for purists or the holier-than-thou, regardless of a little bit of hectoring dialogue about perception vs. data and progress vs. change that Samuel makes an attempt to shoehorn between the jokes.

One of the most effective gags entails a well-known British actor taking part in a beggar who’s one way or the other mistaken for Jesus. This may lead viewers to suppose, momentarily, that the story of a brown-skinned Messiah — arguably extra correct than the California-surfer Jesus of Western artwork historical past — would possibly segue into “How Jesus Became White.” It’s a throwaway snicker, although, and Samuel rapidly returns to his signature mix of lowbrow humor and highfalutin theology.

Whether it really works relies upon much less on piety than on style. Beneath the giddy subversion, there’s a cheerless solemnity — a splash of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” because it had been — that usually comes near curdling the farce. Ultimately, Samuel appears fairly straight-faced in his religion, however whether or not audiences comply with him stays to be seen.

PG-13. At space theaters. Contains sturdy violence, drug use, coarse language, some suggestive materials and smoking. 136 minutes.