“Finger-Licking Good”
Based on the play by Tracy Letts, Killer Joe is a wonderful exploration of greed, loyalty and violence.
Matthew McConaughey plays the title role of Joe Cooper, a detective who moonlights as a contract killer. Joe is hired by Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch) to kill his alcoholic, abandoning mother, after Chris learns that his mum has a fifty-thousand dollar life insurance policy, which, in the event of her death, will go to her seemingly frail daughter Dottie (Juno temple).
Chris and his amazingly useless dad Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) are unable to stump up Joe’s twenty-five-thousand dollar fee up front, so they allow Joe to keep Dottie as a retainer, until after the money is collected and Joe is paid. Joe’s interest in Dottie seems lascivious, as he robs her of her virginity, and makes himself perfectly at home in the Smith’s trailer, although becomes somewhat of the lover/father-figure she desperately needs. Dottie’s reaction is not one of pure hatred, she soon falls for “Killer” Joe’s charms, and finds herself pulled away from her family.
As Joe’s effect on the whole family, including Ansel’s new wife Sharla (Gina Gershon) becomes increasingly entrenched, we see the Smith’s pull each other apart whilst heralding Joe as some kind of superior being.
A fantastically scripted film, the story’s foundation as a play is obvious, letting these character engage so frantically as the central device of the movie. Characters are given their separate motivations, which all seem to conflict with one another, creating the havoc which escalates towards a final, brutal encounter.
Brilliant performances, in particular McConaughey who provides such a compellingly seedy character, stealing most of the scenes whilst engaging in some of the more disturbing ones (in particular a sequence between Joe and Sharla with a piece of fried chicken!).
Dark, humorous, and audaciously plotted, Killer Joe is a spectacular feat of character-driven drama.
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