Chris Knipp
04-19-2014, 12:11 PM
David Gordon Green: JOE (2013)
http://www.chrisknipp.com/newpictures/joe.jpg
NICOLAS CAGE AND TYE SHERIDAN IN JOE
Disturbing complexity from Green, Cage, Sheridan, and a memorable cast of unknowns
In Joe, the lead character (Nicolas Cage) runs a team of day laborers (played by real ones) who poison trees so a lumber company can legally cut them up. It's hard work but pays decently and Joe is a decent boss, though in spare time he drinks too much and is prone to violence. When 15-year-old Gary Jones (Tye Sheridan) begs to be taken onto the team he does well, but the laziness and defiance of his drunken father (Gary Poulter) gets them laid off on day two. Eventually, ex-con Joe becomes the unlikely mentor of this boy who struggles to protect his mother and mute sister from his scoundrel of a father. All must contend with another nasty, Willie-Russell (Ronnie Gene Blevins). This story has its fair share of evil men, vicious dogs, sleazy whore houses, beat-up vans, and other dubious and borderline offensive trappings of white trash Southern Gothic. It's also a piece of work that stands out far from the ordinary and adds luster to its cast and filmmaker.
David Gordon Green's Joe arouses no easy reactions. It has disturbingly violent scenes, which may seem gratuitous. Its low-life southern American setting feels at times campy, clichéd and extreme. On the other hand there are elements that are clearly wonderful. These include the acting by the three principals, Niicholas Cage, Tye Sheridan, and Gary Poulter, which is authentic and real and heartfult. The liberal use of non-actors, in many scenes (and Poulter himself, remarkably, was a homeless man, recruited off the street) contributes to moments that are fresh and unique. However you balk at certain aspects of the movie, the basic conflicts of the story, the pull in Joe between his rage and violence and his strong need to do good and the heartbreaking family loyalty of Gary (Sheridan) and the evil and cruelty of his alcoholic father (Poulter) -- these shine forth strong and clear and stay with you, and just won't go away.
It's obvious as one reviewer put it, Eric Kohn in IndieWIRE, (http://www.indiewire.com/article/review-why-joe-is-a-comeback-for-nicolas-cage-and-david-gorden-green) "If Joe marks a new beginning for some of its characters, the same description applies to its director and star." Cage has said he took a year off -- that's a long time to take off -- and wanted to do something that mattered, and when the possibility of starring in Joe came along, knew it was the right one. This might be Cage's best performance ever and is certainly one of his best and a reminder of his remarkable, fearless past performances in the likes of Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation. Likewise with David Gordon Green, who in this film and to a lesser extent in the preceding, less complex Prince Avalanche has returned to what the cliché for is his "indie roots," the regional, personal, uncommercial style of George Washington, All the Real Girls, and Undertow.
One kept on considering Green "one to watch" even though the rewards seemed to diminish and diffuse with his fourth feature, Snow Angels. Then came a left-field switch to fratboy comedy in Pineapple Express, which was very funny, but needlessly violent at the end, then the pointless and tasteless Your Highness and The Sitter. What was he thinking? How does a director drift in this way? How does a fearless actor like Cage who's been in such interesting movies and won an Oscar also act in so much shlock? There seems an element of self-destructive risk-taking in both men. But you can turn things around, as Cage has at fifty; and when you realize Green is only 39, you know he has more than a second chance.
The stories of Gary Poulter and Tye Sheridan are unusual. Sheridan today is 17, yet his acting career has been pure gold. He debuted by working with Brad Pitt in Terrence Malick's extraordinary Tree of Life, then had a leading role in Jeff Nichols' terrific Mud, where he also plays a dirt-poor kid who finds a dubious mentor on the wrong side of the law (Matthew McConaughey, an actor who decisively turned his career around). Sheridan has five new films coming soon, and it's not surprising that he'd be in demand. Of Gary Poulter, unfortunately, we will have only this one vivid and accomplished performance. It was a risk-taking gesture of Green to send out a casting person looking for potential actors on the street. Poulter was an alcoholic and drug addict whose life went wrong a long time earlier and when the shoot, which he got straight for, was over, his disease took over again, because a few months later he drowned, drunk, in a puddle. The charm, unpredictability, and selfish nastiness he embodies in Joe are unforgettable. Gary Poulter will live in the annals of rare casting risks that payed off.
There are scenes in Joe that seem inexcusable, needlessly unpleasant, or just repetitious. Should we blame Larry Brown's novel, Gary Hawkins' screenplay, or the editor, Colin Patton? Clearly there is no faulting the excellent cinematography of Ty Orr. Or Green's direction, or the superb acting. If you're not just looking for a good time, and love American movies, you'll need to see this.
Joe, 118 mins., debuted at Venice 30 August 2013, showed also at Toronto and a number of other festivals. A limited US theatrical release began 11 April 2014, and it comes out in France 39 April and in the UK 25 July.
http://www.chrisknipp.com/newpictures/joeposter.jpg
http://www.chrisknipp.com/newpictures/joe2.jpg
GARY POULTER IN JOE
http://www.chrisknipp.com/newpictures/joe.jpg
NICOLAS CAGE AND TYE SHERIDAN IN JOE
Disturbing complexity from Green, Cage, Sheridan, and a memorable cast of unknowns
In Joe, the lead character (Nicolas Cage) runs a team of day laborers (played by real ones) who poison trees so a lumber company can legally cut them up. It's hard work but pays decently and Joe is a decent boss, though in spare time he drinks too much and is prone to violence. When 15-year-old Gary Jones (Tye Sheridan) begs to be taken onto the team he does well, but the laziness and defiance of his drunken father (Gary Poulter) gets them laid off on day two. Eventually, ex-con Joe becomes the unlikely mentor of this boy who struggles to protect his mother and mute sister from his scoundrel of a father. All must contend with another nasty, Willie-Russell (Ronnie Gene Blevins). This story has its fair share of evil men, vicious dogs, sleazy whore houses, beat-up vans, and other dubious and borderline offensive trappings of white trash Southern Gothic. It's also a piece of work that stands out far from the ordinary and adds luster to its cast and filmmaker.
David Gordon Green's Joe arouses no easy reactions. It has disturbingly violent scenes, which may seem gratuitous. Its low-life southern American setting feels at times campy, clichéd and extreme. On the other hand there are elements that are clearly wonderful. These include the acting by the three principals, Niicholas Cage, Tye Sheridan, and Gary Poulter, which is authentic and real and heartfult. The liberal use of non-actors, in many scenes (and Poulter himself, remarkably, was a homeless man, recruited off the street) contributes to moments that are fresh and unique. However you balk at certain aspects of the movie, the basic conflicts of the story, the pull in Joe between his rage and violence and his strong need to do good and the heartbreaking family loyalty of Gary (Sheridan) and the evil and cruelty of his alcoholic father (Poulter) -- these shine forth strong and clear and stay with you, and just won't go away.
It's obvious as one reviewer put it, Eric Kohn in IndieWIRE, (http://www.indiewire.com/article/review-why-joe-is-a-comeback-for-nicolas-cage-and-david-gorden-green) "If Joe marks a new beginning for some of its characters, the same description applies to its director and star." Cage has said he took a year off -- that's a long time to take off -- and wanted to do something that mattered, and when the possibility of starring in Joe came along, knew it was the right one. This might be Cage's best performance ever and is certainly one of his best and a reminder of his remarkable, fearless past performances in the likes of Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation. Likewise with David Gordon Green, who in this film and to a lesser extent in the preceding, less complex Prince Avalanche has returned to what the cliché for is his "indie roots," the regional, personal, uncommercial style of George Washington, All the Real Girls, and Undertow.
One kept on considering Green "one to watch" even though the rewards seemed to diminish and diffuse with his fourth feature, Snow Angels. Then came a left-field switch to fratboy comedy in Pineapple Express, which was very funny, but needlessly violent at the end, then the pointless and tasteless Your Highness and The Sitter. What was he thinking? How does a director drift in this way? How does a fearless actor like Cage who's been in such interesting movies and won an Oscar also act in so much shlock? There seems an element of self-destructive risk-taking in both men. But you can turn things around, as Cage has at fifty; and when you realize Green is only 39, you know he has more than a second chance.
The stories of Gary Poulter and Tye Sheridan are unusual. Sheridan today is 17, yet his acting career has been pure gold. He debuted by working with Brad Pitt in Terrence Malick's extraordinary Tree of Life, then had a leading role in Jeff Nichols' terrific Mud, where he also plays a dirt-poor kid who finds a dubious mentor on the wrong side of the law (Matthew McConaughey, an actor who decisively turned his career around). Sheridan has five new films coming soon, and it's not surprising that he'd be in demand. Of Gary Poulter, unfortunately, we will have only this one vivid and accomplished performance. It was a risk-taking gesture of Green to send out a casting person looking for potential actors on the street. Poulter was an alcoholic and drug addict whose life went wrong a long time earlier and when the shoot, which he got straight for, was over, his disease took over again, because a few months later he drowned, drunk, in a puddle. The charm, unpredictability, and selfish nastiness he embodies in Joe are unforgettable. Gary Poulter will live in the annals of rare casting risks that payed off.
There are scenes in Joe that seem inexcusable, needlessly unpleasant, or just repetitious. Should we blame Larry Brown's novel, Gary Hawkins' screenplay, or the editor, Colin Patton? Clearly there is no faulting the excellent cinematography of Ty Orr. Or Green's direction, or the superb acting. If you're not just looking for a good time, and love American movies, you'll need to see this.
Joe, 118 mins., debuted at Venice 30 August 2013, showed also at Toronto and a number of other festivals. A limited US theatrical release began 11 April 2014, and it comes out in France 39 April and in the UK 25 July.
http://www.chrisknipp.com/newpictures/joeposter.jpg
http://www.chrisknipp.com/newpictures/joe2.jpg
GARY POULTER IN JOE