Jesse’s Closet

2002, NR Directed by Ken Johnson.

REVIEWED By Marjorie Baumgarten, Tue., July 30, 2002

Longtime mainstay of the Austin theatre world Ken Johnson has adapted his 1996 play Jesse's Closet for the screen. The play is set in the San Francisco apartment of Jesse, a gay man who has just died of AIDS. His rural Louisiana parents, who never came to grips with Jesse's homosexuality, show up to pick up a family album and run into one of Jesse's old friends. In his 1996 review of the play Chronicle reviewer Robert Faires describes what follows as "emotionally charged conversations and a series of flashbacks, through which we meet Jesse and learn what terrible events propelled him from Louisiana to Castro Street."

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

Support the Chronicle  

READ MORE
More Ken Johnson
In Memoriam: Ken Johnson
In Memoriam: Ken Johnson
Remembering the versatile theatre artist, who died March 2

Robert Faires, March 8, 2018

More Films
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Tim Burton's long-awaited sequel is a wasted opportunity

Richard Whittaker, Sept. 6, 2024

The Front Room
Warped A24 drama about an old lady terrorizing her daughter-in-law

Richard Whittaker, Sept. 6, 2024

More by Marjorie Baumgarten
Blink Twice
In her directorial debut, Zoë Kravitz delivers a distinctive, post-#MeToo thriller

Aug. 23, 2024

SXSW Film Review: The Greatest Hits
SXSW Film Review: The Greatest Hits
Love means never having to flip to the B side

March 16, 2024

KEYWORDS FOR THIS FILM

Jesse’s Closet, Ken Johnson

MORE IN THE ARCHIVES
One click gets you all the newsletters listed below

Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events

Keep up with happenings around town

Kevin Curtin's bimonthly cannabis musings

Austin's queerest news and events

Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news

Information is power. Support the free press, so we can support Austin.   Support the Chronicle