Directed by:
William FriedkinCinematography:
Caleb DeschanelComposer:
Tyler BatesCast:
Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon, Thomas Haden Church, Danny Epper, Scott A. Martin, Gralen Bryant Banks, Marc Macaulay (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
When drug dealer Chris (Emile Hirsch) has his stash stolen by his mother, he plans to dispatch of her and cash in on her $50,000 life insurance to repay his debts. He hires Detective Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a dirty cop who moonlights as a contract killer, who sets his sight on Chris’ innocent sister Dottie (Juno Temple) as collateral for the job. But the agreement turns complicated when Dottie forms a bond with Killer Joe and everything begins to unravel. Killer Joe is a controversial and shocking black comedy thriller from director William Friedkin. (Entertainment One)
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Reviews (10)
Amazing acting, dialogue scenes like in a Tarantino film, and an incredibly precise redneck touch. Essentially, very good filmmaking, I just didn't quite understand why it all came about in the first place. In most films of a similar nature, there is more or less a hidden message that you have to read between the lines. I couldn't find it here. Very gratuitous, as if Friedkin was trying to prove that he still has the chops.
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So one day, you’re going through Matthew McConaughey’s movies and watch all of these American hillbillies hanging out with him. His role in this movie – killer Joe – is basically the only normally thinking person in this entire movie. Even though he also has his “moments”. For example, the ending is a downright delicacy for movie connoisseurs. But the people he surrounds himself with are the sorts of characters who look like they’ve had five pints of beer and escaped from a loony bin. Their behavior, actions, reactions to certain situations… nothing here makes any sense. To be honest, I didn’t get it. And I was fascinated by Juno Temple who is apparently twelve in this movie. What?! Well, in any case, I have to say that the movie had balls and that’s why I’m rating it three stars.
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The ace up William Friedkin’s sleeve is not the plot but the eccentricity of its characters and what it can lead to. That is, what
they’re capable of and how they deal with situations gone wrong in their redneck shortsightedness. An excellent
“chicken blowjob” scene. I didn’t hope for anything like this from Matthew McConaughey in the age of A Time to Kill and Amistad. This actor is rising to the stars! And it’s not just him, the entire cast is excellent here. A brutal movie with big balls and a
not exactly sound mind.
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Insanity, and total insanity at that. I absolutely wouldn't dare predict how the whole thing might turn out. It's not a consequence of the "subtlety" and "thoughtfulness" of the story, it's more a consequence of the fact that the behavior of the characters in this film is completely unpredictable, and what may appear to be an overly bizarre solution to the "problem" here (either in physical terms or some kind of reasoning) may be considered one of the alternatives – and even the most "acceptable" alternative. Friedkin bets on the bizarreness of the story right from the beginning – the opening dialogue in the rain lures you in such a way that afterwards you simply devour the whole film like a cherry (though it’s not impossible to vomit some of it up). The ensemble of actors is really great, but Matthew McConaughey towers slightly above the rest.
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If Quentin Tarantino didn’t exist, Killer Joe would certainly be a concept. But this way, especially in comparison with his similarly tuned conversational films, its underdevelopment and superficiality become clear. Friedkin builds primarily on unreadable characters and their conflicts with each other, but the story has too few unexpected twists and only one memorable scene with cult potential. The biggest positives for me remain Matthew McConaughey, who is charismatic as shit, and I'd quickly turn away with my tail between my legs if I met him on the street, and the overall stylistic execution of form and content, which at times is quite close to Quentin's.
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