Killer Joe: DVD review by Leo Owen …
Director: William Friedkin
Writer: Tracy Letts
Studio: Entertainment One
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: November 5 2012
Running Time: 99 mins
Certificate:18
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon
After a break from the big screen, William Friedkin reunites with writer Tracy Letts to adapt another of her stage plays after 2006’s Bug. In a similar vein to Friedkin’s previous projects, Killer Joe is equally grimy and is full of morally dubious characters from the white trash world of Texas.
Rain pounds, a storm lashes out and a dog viciously barks: Friedkin plunges us straight into the seedy world of his trailer park setting before quickly switching the action to an equally sleazy strip club depicted through a blue filter. Central characters match setting in their slovenly attire and dubious introductions: Sharla (Gina Gershon) first appears answering her door wearing only a t-shirt shamelessly revealing all her pubic hair. Pottering around her trailer, she thinks nothing of this while her stepson Chris (Emile Hirsch) cries in dismay: “It’s a bit distracting – your bush staring me in the face.” Despite his reaction, Chris is no innocent, having recently been thrown out by his girlfriend with suggestions of domestic violence. Young Dottie is first shown in what appears to be a drug-fuelled stupor while Joe Creeper is introduced as a cop and killer (“He’s a killer – he kills people”) and seen from the reflection of a car wing mirror.
The story centres around Chris’ drug debt to Digger and his plan to kill off his estranged mother for her $50,000 insurance policy. Making a deal with his dad and sister Dottie, Chris enlists the help of cop and contract killer, Joe, but his simple plan naturally has complications when Dottie becomes Joe’s retainer and he takes a shine to her. Failed racing bets and unsavoury suggestions Dottie is to be loaned as Joe’s sex slave only make matters worse.
Although Killer Joe is loaded with squirm-inducing scenes, there are humorous moments with some of the blackest comedy you’re likely to ever see. Letts presents us with incompetent criminals who “can’t even tell the time”, an accordion-playing biker and characters who live off “K fry C”. Thomas Haden Church as Ansel provides most of the light relief, cluelessly admitting he’s “never aware”. A scene where he meets with the insurers is particularly funny as he’s dressed in a baseball cap to match a suit that unravels as the interview progresses.
The titular Joe is at first an amusingly well-mannered assassin, trying to put Dottie’s mind at rest by telling her he “[wishes he] had a funny story about first dates or casseroles” and giving her flowers. As the scene unfolds music becomes more sinister as Joe becomes voyeur ordering Dottie to undress while he sits in a chair. Joe unarms himself and the tension rises – what follows is uncomfortable viewing charged with sexual longing as he whispers “How old are you?” and she replies “12”. Friedkin makes this all the more difficult to watch by showing us very little with hinters to strangulation.
After the deal predictably goes sour Joe’s simmering temper surfaces and he furiously smashes a TV and brutally punches Sharla in the face before forcing her to phallically suck on a strategically-placed chicken drumstick. A million miles away from the romcom roles McConaughey famously plays, as Joe he is both tender and cooly menacing, purring inspired very real threats and one-liners: “I’ll slaughter all of you like pigs”. His ability to switch from moments of extreme violence to calm normality makes his performance all the more impressive – immediately after trashing both Sharla and the trailer, he sits for grace and a “family” meal.
Tracy Letts’ ethereal script and often naked characters are comparable to David Lynch films – like the violence and bloodshed. there is no shying away from it. Juno Temple is fantastic as Dottie, a young girl with childlike innocence who learns kung-fu moves from the TV and shares memories of her mother with Joe that suggest a troubled and painful past. Her sleep-walking and spooky way of talking add to Killer Joe’s nightmarish quality. Having no understanding of consequences, she unthinkingly tells Joe she’s a virgin, naively speaks of “pure love” and tellingly admits Joe’s “eyes hurt”. Chris’ nightmare visions of Dottie also suggest something equally sinister.
Many years ago Killer Joe may have quite rightly been labelled a “video nasty”. Today its dark humour is reminiscent of early Coen brothers’ films like Blood Simple or Raising Arizona. Letts’ story is full of double crossings and bluffs; is brutal in the extreme and boasts some hilarious comic timing. Coupled with a strong cast, Friedkin’s glorious attention to detail and cinematic landscape shots, it delivers what the promotional material promises – a surprise shock ending that both exhilarates and confounds.
Special Features:
Interviews with cast and crew
Killer Joe: On The Set