What do you do if
you're into the local crime boss for more money than you have any chance of
getting because your mother stole the cocaine you were supposed to sell? I
mean, we've all been there, right? Well, if you're name is Chris Smith (Emile
Hirsch) you put together a plan to have your mother murdered for her life
insurance money by the local cop who moonlights as a hit-man, Killer
Joe Cooper (Matthew McCouaughey). Oh, and don't forget to include your
dimwitted dad Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) who's divorced from your mom and
re-married to local slut ball adulteress Sharla (Gina Gershon). Last
but not least you'll have to get your mentally disturbed sister Dottie (Juno
Temple) in on the plan, she is the beneficiary after all. Sound simple enough?
I suppose I should
have been more prepared for what I was about to see when I sat down to watch
this flick. When the director is William Freidken of The Exorcist fame and the
film holds the rare NC-17 rating you are almost guaranteed to be disturbed by
the time you leave. My impression from the news that was released and the
trailers I saw was that Killer
Joe was a dark comedy...actually, that's not just my impression, it's
how it was marketed. If there was anything funny in this flick it must have
sailed right over my head because I didn't see a thing. There were parts
that, independently, could have been funny, like Dottie walking into her
brother's room butt naked and breaking into a Kung Fu stance, but in the
context of everything that was going on (not to mention her brother looking at
her naked and not shying away) it all just seemed....well...wrong. The movie
makes attempts at delivering plot twists but forgot to disguise obvious clues
throughout. If I'm being completely honest it seemed as if the story, which
could have been great, was only there to serve as filler between scenes
designed to make any person not currently holding a life sentence in jail squirm
to the point of feeling dirty just for watching it. I'm not kidding, you will
want to take a long shower in boiling water when it's all over. The thing that
really get's me is that there really wasn't a need for most of it. They showed
Dottie's mental illness just fine without having her reveal that she thinks
she's 11 in the middle of a sex scene. We understood that Killer Joe is an
unstable sadist long before they show a disturbingly long and explicit scene
involving forced fellatio and fried chicken. I'm not a fan of feeling
uncomfortable in the theater, Hostel for
instance was never my thing but at least Hostel type
movies achieve their goal of disturbing the audience to the ends of
an adrenaline rush. Killer Joe disturbs
for no clear reason with no clear intent as far as upping the audiences
enjoyment. The only purpose for including the harshest of scenes would be to
see who in the audience enjoys it for the purpose of arresting them...if you
like the way this flick disturbs you then it's only a matter of time before you
graduate to crime.
On the other end
of the spectrum the people playing out these scenes are phenomenal. Every
single member of the principal cast is amazing. Perhaps the movie being so
deeply disturbing is a testament to how well they were playing their roles.
Thomas Haden Church's slow-witted Ansel is on the money and probably the most
lovable character in the movie. He elicits more empathy from the
audience than the entirety of the rest of the cast combined. Gina Gershon is
flawless in her role; it's readily apparent during the movie's climax that she
left nothing behind and gave everything to the role. Juno Temple was
astonishing as Dottie, playing a mentally ill person is probably one of the
hardest things for an actor to do…there’s such a thin line between believable and
laughable with that kind of role. She is pitch perfect right down to her
mannerisms, she has little ways of moving, talking, and smiling that really let
you know that inside that adult body is a child. Emile Hirsch does a fine job
but really has the least to do out of anyone in the movie…which is odd
considering he’s the catalyst for the whole thing.
I’m not assigning fault to the actors, they did their jobs and did
them well, but I really can’t think of anyone I would feel comfortable recommending
this flick to. It’s a shame because acting of this caliber is something
everyone should witness…I just don’t think you want to witness it like this.
1 out of 5 Guttenbergs (The cast gets 4.5 out of 5 Guttenbergs)
