Killer Joe,
USA, 2011
Dir: William Friedkin
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Emile
Hirsch, Juno Temple
Where do I start? William
Friedkin, director of 70s classics like The
French Connection and The Exorcist,
returned to the big screen in 2011 with an audacious, violent, and brilliant
adaptation of Tracey Letts’ play, Killer
Joe. The film stars Matthew McConaughey as Joe Cooper, a police detective
who moonlights as a serial killer. Chris (Emile Hirsch) is in desperate need of
cash to pay off some gambling debts. So Chris decides to hire Joe to kill his
mother, so that Chris can collect the insurance money. Chris’s family gets
involved in the plot, including his brainless father Ansel (Thomas Haden
Church), Ansel’s second wife Sharla (Gina Gershon), and Chris’s innocent
younger sister Dottie (Juno Temple).
Joe is prepared to do the job but
needs an advance on his payment, which naturally, neither Chris nor his family
has. So Joe, after a chance meeting with Dottie, agrees to do the job and
receive payment later, in return for Dottie’s virtue. That’s where the insanity
begins. Soon, we realize that Joe harbors sick fantasies, which the virginal
Dottie is receptive to because she’s never enjoyed such attention from a man
before.
Given an NC-17 rating upon its
release, Killer Joe is a relentless,
unforgiving, but fascinating portrait of the Deep South, and the shady
characters that inhabit it. Matthew McConaughey was criminally overlooked
during the last awards season, perhaps because the material is so dark and
critics were probably rubbed the wrong way by a certain scene involving a piece
of KFC chicken. But his presence is significant and McConaughey dominates every
scene he’s in. He mixes charisma and sociopathic tendencies so fluidly
together, it oozes out of him with every line he delivers.
With elements of classic pulp, and
black humor, Killer Joe is a love it
or hate it movie with potential to become a contemporary cult film. Friedkin, the
old master, was able to garner solid performances from everyone involved including
Gina Gershon (the sleazy housewife), Juno Temple (virginal lollipop), and Emile
Hirsch (hapless loser who can’t catch a break).
The original stage play premiered
in Chicago in 1993. Since then, Killer
Joe has been performed in at least 15 countries in 12 languages. Mr.
Friedkin and Mr. Letts first teamed up in 2006 for the offbeat drama Bug, which starred Ashley Judd and
Michael Shannon as a couple holed up in a motel room. Friedkin has had a patchy
career over the last few decades, but Killer Joe proves that he is still one of
his generation's most daring filmmakers.
After flops like Blue Chips and Jade in the 1990s, Killer Joe
is a courageous bid for a comeback from a director who has had few hits
since his 1970s heyday. Luckily, the sharp skills that helped earn Mr. Friedkin
an Academy Award for Best Director in 1971 for The French Connection and more accolades two years later for The Exorcist find their way into Killer Joe.
Because of, or perhaps, in spite
of, a very abrupt conclusion, Killer Joe
proves to be a huge slap in the face to its audience. The film is
outrageous and disturbing, but Friedkin and co. confront cinematic taboos with
style and humility, but also (dark) comedy and pathos. In all, Killer Joe is one of the most
difficult-to-watch-but-difficult-to-turn-away-from movies made in recent memory.
This film is not for the faint of heart, but it is a balls to the wall,
no-holds-barred drama that will leave you with your jaw dropped by the end. Its
becoming more and more rare that a film takes as many risks as Killer Joe does, and that's why its so good.
