I've been so busy bringing you reviews from Richard and Shawn, that my own reviews have taken a back seat. It's been a while since I wrote one but that's changing today with my review for William Friedkin's Southern Fried Gothic Film Noir.....Killer Joe. Check out my review after the jump....
Every now and then a
film comes out starring a particular actor who I have absolutely no
interest in, then after watching that film, my opinion changes
dramatically, it happened with Duncan Jones' Moon, I hated Sam
Rockwell prior to that film but after witnessing his unbelievable
performance in Moon, my opinion changed and now I look forward to the
films he's in. Matthew McConaughey, an actor I had seen in quite a
few throwaway rom-coms and some decent enough thrillers was another
actor I really didn't have much time for, sure he was OK in Contact
and The Lincoln Lawyer but I was never blown away by him, that was
until I saw Killer Joe, the latest film from Exorcist and French
Connection director, William Friedkin.
If you know anything
about Friedkin's work, you know it's going to be a) controversial b)
Gritty and c) rather quite violent, and Killer Joe is no exception,
the film has a darkly comic sensibility about it
but at it's core is a
film about a deeply dysfunctional American family, not as completely
deranged as the family from Takashi Miike's Visitor Q, but close
enough.
The film follows Emile
Hirsh's character Chris, a complete screw up who comes to his father,
a redneck called Ansel and asks for some money to payback some drug
dealers. Ansel doesn't have the money so Chris tells him about a life
insurance policy worth $50,000 that his mother has and how if they
kill her, they get the money, the only problem, Chris's troubled and
mildly retarded sister Dottie is the beneficiary. Dottie over hears
their conversation and agrees to the plan. Chris informs Ansel that
there is a cop who moonlights as a hitman called Joe Cooper and that
for $20,000 he can get Joe to take the mother out. Joe agrees to meet
Chris and Ansel and explains that it's actually $25,000 and a certain
amount up front. The two obviously don't have the money so Joe takes
Dottie as a retainer until the money is delivered. The agree and Joe
sets about his plan to kill the mother. Chris feels uneasy about Joe
taking advantage of his sister but is helpless to do anything about
it and it seems that Dottie is falling in love with Joe. Ansel lets
his wife Sharla in on the plan with a plan of splitting the money 4
ways with Joe getting his cut first. Joe follows through with his
'hit' and after discovering that Dottie isn't the beneficiary of the
policy things start to get tense and really really brutal.
It's hard to write out
a plot synopsis for this because things just keep happening in the
movie and to be honest the most exciting thing about the film is how
it progresses to it's violent and non Hollywood ending. Basically
what Friedkin has done with Killer Joe is make a modern film noir in
the style of Blood Simple and Steven Soderberg's The Underneath with
a bit of extreme cinema thrown in for good measure.
What stands out most in
the film though are the performances by the 5 main cast members.
Emile Hirsh who, to be honest i'm not a real fan of, totally wins me
over with this film, Chris is a perennial screw up, his mother knows
it, his father and his step-mother know it and he knows it but
although he's screwed up his life he does care about 1 thing, his
sister Dotty. Dotty is a mesmerising character, child like and
vulnerable but still has her smarts. Juno Temple is shaping up to be
a great versatile actress since I first saw her in Wild Child a few
years back which is a completely different kind of film compared to
Killer Joe. She plays Dotty as she's in a constant dream like state
it's a marvel to watch. Thomas Haden Church, who is always great,
plays the down trodden mater of the family a redneck who even though
you know he's an equal partner in this grand scheme, you still,
towards the end, feel that he's the most thoughtout character in the
family, his entire life comes crashing down around him in the last 20
minutes and you really can't help but feel sympathy for him. Rounding
out the family is step mother Sharla, brilliantly played by the ever
watchable Gina Gershon who is astonishing in this role, Friedkin puts
her through the ringer not once but twice and puts her in an
incredibly humiliating scenario that involves a chicken drumstick,
but Gershon takes the scene and adds something stellar to it. The
depravity of this act is made all the more bearable because you know
it's happening to such a deplorable character. I don't think Gershon
has been this good since Bound or Pray For Rock & Roll.
But the film truly
belongs to Matthew McConaughey, playing wildly against type in a role
that not many actors could possibly pull off. Known mostly for his
Rom-Com guff like Failure To Launch and Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past,
McConaughey exudes menace and charm and does so in equal measure. You
know that Joe is a bad guy, for a start he's a cop who moonlights as
a hitman, but as the film continues on it's downward spiral, Joe's
intensity becomes more obvious until the final act in which Joe
reveals his true nature. It's a dynamite performance from McConaughey
and I hope he doesn't just go back to fluffy romantic comedies after
his incredible performance as Joe.
Killer Joe definitely
won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you are familiar with William
Friedkin's body of work, The Exorcist, French Connection...etc...you
will find something exciting about seeing a new film from this sadly
forgotten master director. It boasts a fantastic ensemble cast, a
brilliant script by Tracey Letts and a dark yet comic tone. For me
Killer Joe is one of, if not my favourite film of the year, but we'll
have to see come December when I countdown my top 10 of 2012. I loved
it and I hope others enjoy it's twisted darkness as much as I did.
Still need to see it! But it definitely sounds interesting. Also looking forward to your top 10 of the year.
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