When drug dealer Chris (Emile Hirsch) has his stash stolen by his mother, he plans to dispatch of her and cash in on her $50,000 life insurance to repay his debts. He hires Detective Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a dirty cop who moonlights as a contract killer, who sets his sight on Chris' innocent sister Dottie (Juno Temple) as collateral for the job. But the agreement turns complicated when Dottie forms a bond with Killer Joe and everything begins to unravel. Killer Joe is a controversial and shocking black comedy thriller from director William Friedkin (The... Exorcist, The French Connection). [show more]
In suburban Texas, blundering drug dealer Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch) - in serious debt to a local kingpin - stumbles upon information of his evil alcoholic mother's $50,000 life insurance policy, apparently benefiting his younger sister Dottie (Juno Temple). Chris enlists the services of Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a Dallas detective moonlighting as a hitman. The rest of his redneck family - gormless, deadbeat father Ansel (Thomas Hayden Church) and his underhanded, vampish second wife Sharla (Gina Gershon) - take little convincing to go along with the plan.
When his request for a deposit catches the penniless Smith family off-guard, Joe proposes that the virginal Dottie - a modern day, trailer trash version of Blanche DuBois - be offered to him as a "retainer" until receipt of his half of the money. With Ansel seemingly content to see his daughter finally have a man in her life and Dottie at peace with exploring a carnal relationship with a man whose "eyes hurt", Chris becomes increasingly disturbed by Joe's fixation with his sister and intends to flee the country with her. The Smiths soon learn that the money is not as easy to obtain as first thought and events descend into a disturbingly bloody climax as Joe uncovers the truth and seeks his revenge.
Adapted from a play by Tracy Letts, KILLER JOE is what you'd come to expect from a William Friedkin film - compelling storytelling packed with outstanding cast performances. However, unlike the classic 70's works that bore his initial fame, he constructs an engrossing film without the use of grandiose elaborate car chases or supernatural set-pieces. Much of the film takes place in the interior setting of the Smith family trailer with a plot driven more so by dialogue than action, thus emphasising its origins as a play.
Matthew McConaughey is cast completely against type, more familiar to audiences as a shirtless romantic lead rather than a sadistic psychopathic antagonist, but it works. McConaughey's 'Joe' is cold, intense and methodical; drawing parallels to Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh. As Juno Temple's stock continues to rise across the Atlantic, her performance as this Southern Lolita serves only to solidify her reputation. Hayden Church and Gershon are painfully caricatured yet serve a delightfully dark-humoured relief from the horror that befalls the family. Unfortunately, Emile Hirsch lets the ensemble down with yet another disappointingly wooden performance that further belies his status as a credible actor.
While KILLER JOE may not break new ground in a muddled crime/thriller/black comedy genre, offering little more than a tired premise of a family torn by greed and deception, it may very well be the pioneer of a new sub category - fried chicken fellatio. The way in which Friedkin provocatively depicts violence and sex (and violent sex) may be off putting to a vast majority of movie-goers that take a leap of faith on this picture, but for all of it flaws it still proves a satisfactory leap worth taking.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. When drug dealer Chris (Emile Hirsch) has his stash stolen by his mother, he plans to dispatch of her and cash in on her $50,000 life insurance to repay his debts. He hires Detective Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a dirty cop who moonlights as a contract killer, who sets his sight on Chris' innocent sister Dottie (Juno Temple) as collateral for the job. But the agreement turns complicated when Dottie forms a bond with Killer Joe and everything begins to unravel. "Killer Joe" is a controversial and shocking black comedy thriller from director William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection). Actors Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon, Scott A. Martin, Gralen Bryant Banks, Carol Sutton, Danny Epper, Jeff Galpin, Marc Macaulay, Gregory C. Bachaud & Charley Vance Director William Friedkin Certificate 18 years and over Year 2011 Languages English
Matthew McConaughey and Juno Temple star in this ultra-violent black comedy thriller. In the white-trash backwaters of Texas, drug dealer Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch) and his father (Thomas Haden Church) hire Killer Joe Cooper (McConaughey), a Dallas detective who moonshines as a hitman, to bump off Chris's mother in the hope of getting their hands on her substantial life insurance policy. In lieu of the upfront fee they owe Killer Joe, the men offer the services of Chris's nubile younger sister, Dottie (Temple), as a 'retainer' until they get the money. Depraved acts of sex, greed and violence ensue as everyone proceeds to double-cross and backstab each other to within an inch of their lives.
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