Joe
Genre : Action/Adventure
Year : 2013
Director : David Gordon Green
Screenplay : Larry Brown
Starring : Nicolas Cage, Tye Sheridan, Gary Poulter

Nicolas Cage is tremendous as ex-con Joe trying to keep his life in check.

His spell in the penitentiary seems to have been due to his temper, which he still struggles to keep under control. He has a knack for attracting trouble, in fact virtually a compulsion, and it seems as if he knows all along that he can’t really hope for things to go smoothly.

Instead, he concentrates on giving advice and help to teenager Gary (Tye Sheridan), a hard worker and good hearted kid who has the misfortune to have as a father a truly nasty, drunken layabout known as G-daawg (Gary Poulter).

In one ghastly scene, G-daawg batters a limping man to death in order to steal his bottle of wine. Gary hates his father with good reason but his immediate target in life is to buy Joe’s truck, and he sees Joe as a role model.

Amongst those making life difficult for Joe are a series of over-keen young policemen, and it is just as well that their boss Earl (Aj Wilson McPhaul) has a lot of sympathy for Joe.

Joe is a resourceful man and while the film starts slowly, you will find yourself rooting for him before long. He aquires a girlfriend but still visits the local brothel, and to get round the fact that the brothel dog doesn’t like him, he brings along his own much tougher dog.

A bigger problem is trouble-maker Willie-Russell and there is ongoing conflict with him.

It’s an increasingly involving film with good performances especially the lead. I definitely need to investigate some of his other movies. It’s well shot in an atmosphere of heat and poverty.

A sad footnote is that Gary Poulter, who was not a professional actor and had a drink problem, died before the film was released, and it is dedicated to him and another person whose identity I haven’t been able to establish.

8 and a half out of 10 -

mike@mikes-movies.co.uk

A COLLECTION OF INDEPENDENT FILM & MOVIE REVIEWS BY MIKE HUNTER
Thanks to David Kinvig for the header cartoon

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