Joe
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Gary Poulter, Tye Sheridan
117 mins; Class 15;
Eden Cinemas
I may have mentioned before that I tend to approach any film starring Nicolas Cage with trepidation.
The 50-year-old actor is probably one of the most prolific in Hollywood; which has proven not to be a good thing, for he has had a mixed bag of success.
Consider his charming and energetic performance in the 1987 Moonstruck or his career-best, Oscar-winning dark turn in Leaving Las Vegas (1995).
Then compare them to the tiresome roles he has sleepwalked through of late (Trespass, Drive Angry, Season of the Witch, all released in 2011, to name but three).
Thankfully, Joe sees the actor return to the form he so effortlessly displayed early in his career. Cage is the titular Joe, a hard-drinking ex-convict who lives life below the radar in a small Texas town; working hard at his job, seeking out the companionship of his beloved dog and a few choice lady friends while trying to keep his penchant for violence in check.
When a 15-year-old drifter kid Gary (Tye Sheridan) comes into his life, Joe’s never before existent paternal instincts come to the fore.
However, the presence of the boy’s alcoholic father and the re-appearance of a former enemy test Joe’s patience to the limit and it is not long before his volatile nature rears its ugly head.
It is a welcome sight to see Cage imbuing a part with quiet intensity and honesty rather than adopting the strident, wide-eyed, manic gesticulations that have characterised so many of his performances of late.
Joe is a complex man whose violent outer edge belies his inner capacity for decency.
Yet, Cage gives an unassuming yet nuanced portrayal that effortlessly projects both sides to him. He never gives into the temptation of overdoing it, even during Joe’s violent outbursts. He is matched note for note by Tye Sheridan, a young actor with only two films to his credit and whose young face displays all the angst of a troubled boy dealing with an abusive father, a distant mother and vulnerable sister. There is something special in the bond he creates with Joe; and newcomer and veteran play exceptionally well off one another.
The third performance is that of unknown Gary Poulter as Gary’s abusive, alcoholic father.
A story of genuine emotions
Poulter gives a profound performance as a horrible, hateful man with no compunctions about stealing money from his son or treating his daughter like a commodity.
And yet, underneath the bloodshot eyes, unkempt hair and filthy clothes, his wretchedness clamours for attention and it is hard not to muster a little sympathy for him.
Joe is at once a story filled with violence and one of genuine emotions. Based on the novel of the same name by Larry Brown, with a script by Gary Hawkins, it is a story of friendship, regret and redemption.
Its dramatis personae of brooding men, warm-hearted and wise prostitutes and abused children; its sudden eruptions into violence and anonymous, nondescript locations mark it out as a straightforward story with an inevitable outcome.
Director David Gordon Green takes his time with the narrative and this almost works against the film.
It takes a while for the story to kick in and for us to care about the characters that on the surface are truly difficult to like. Yet, Green takes pains to create the moody atmosphere of poverty and dilapidation that permeates throughout, finally getting under the skin of the viewer, as do the spot-on performances of its three leads.
Footnote: Gary Poulter’s performance piqued my curiosity. I’d never seen or heard of him before and wondered who this actor was.
I learned that Poulter was, in fact, a homeless man discovered by the film’s casting agents on the streets of Austin, Texas.
As reported by the Austin Chronicle online, Poulter led a rather colourful life before ending up a homeless drunk.
I was dismayed to read on that after successfully completing his role, an opportunity that may have improved his life, Poulter tragically died at a campsite for the homeless in Austin in February, 2013.
He never got to see his work in Joe; a performance universally acclaimed by the filmmakers, his co-stars and ultimately, film critics.