Review: Killer Joe

Set mostly in a Texas trailer park, Emile Hirsch plays a low-life with a significant gambling debt he can’t afford to pay. When his ne’er do well father (Thomas Haden Church) claims he’s unable to get that kind of money himself, Hirsch comes up with a desperate plan: His no-good mother has life insurance, with Hirsch’s aptly named sister Dottie (Juno Temple) as the beneficiary. Hirsch suggests hiring someone to bump mum off and split the insurance money. The guy Hirsch goes to for the job is a Texas police detective named Joe (Matthew McConaughey) who does some contract killing on the side. Problem is Joe is a creep who wants $25,000 up front, and when Hirsch can’t pay it, he decides he’ll take the virginal Dottie as a ‘retainer’ instead until the money can be paid. Gina Gershon plays Haden Church’s current wife, who also wants a cut of the money.

 

Adapted by Tracy Letts (“Bug”) from his own play, this 2011 film from esteemed director William Friedkin (“The French Connection”, “The Exorcist”) is a good film that will absolutely not be for everyone. This is dark, very tough stuff set in a very dark and ugly world. At the centre of it all is a commanding, extraordinary performance from Matthew McConaughey in the title role. As good as everyone else is here, it’s Joe that truly grabs you as a character. He’s charismatic, but in an utterly craven way, as well as being both intimidating and genuinely terrifying. His entrance is also hilarious.

 

Which brings us to the humour, another important element. As dark as this is – and boy howdy is it – it’s also quite funny at times for those with an appropriately twisted sense of humour. Even during the film’s most controversial scene there’s still room to give the terrific Thomas Haden Church a funny line: ‘I’m never aware’. As awful as some of the events are here, you can’t help but laugh at how clueless Haden Church’s Ansel is and how little authority and respect he gives/gets. The guy is a borderline dumb arse and completely gullible, Haden Church is a talented actor but he really outdoes himself here. I also liked that it was a stage play adaptation that in no way came across like one. I always hate that, so I was glad to see this film avoid that pitfall. The one flaw here is that I don’t think Friedkin and Letts arrive at quite the right note to end on. Otherwise, I found little to complain about.

 

A good neo-noir full of unpleasant low-life characters whom some might not want to spend any time with. However, a well-made film is a well-made film, so if you were able to stomach “The Killer Inside Me” you might be able to get through this one and appreciate it. Matthew McConaughey towers over all in the best performance of his career thus far. This is the performance he should’ve won an Oscar for but wasn’t even nominated. That’s a travesty in my book.

 

Rating: B-