Here's to Joe (a review)
A few days ago I watched the movie Joe starring Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan. Mostly I watched it because I tend to like Nicolas Cage as an actor. I find it interesting how he has fallen into the B-List or lower for most people. I can't figure out why he isn't a draw any longer. I have found him to be a solid actor. The movie Joe is no exception.
I won't go into the plot too much here, but it is billed as a movie about the relationship between Joe (Cage) and a young boy named Gary (Sheridan). The writing is good. The pacing is pretty good, even though it tends to lag a few times, but only briefly. And while the movie isn't an action movie, from the beginning you feel the tension beginning to build.
Everyone in the movie seems to be in some state of disrepair, and while they all seem to be trying to get out of their brokenness, situations are such that the interpersonal relationships between the characters is ironically that which keeps both offering hope and healing as well as the cause for the inability to move forward. Cage's character tries to rise above his small town past by being a hard worker, yet his hangouts are also frequented by the same people he is trying to rise above. His past hangs around him as does the elusive future. Hope and despair are often in the same room and in the same scene.
Sheridan's character is the one to watch, because as much as you hope Joe can extract himself from the mire of the life that swirls around him, you wonder if there is any real way out for Joe that doesn't involve either violence or simply leaving the town for good. Gary (Sheridan) is one who has it bad - really, really bad - but seems to have enough wits about him to find a way out before he finds himself trapped by the same bad decisions that lead his father to remaining an abusive alcoholic (convincingly played by Gary Poulter).
Everyone in the story has the potential for goodness and to escape their situation. Some, like Gary's mother, refuse to do so. Some, like Gary's sister, just don't know how and would likely come to a sad end if someone like Gary didn't seek to protect them.
And here we find the true heart of the story. Joe sees potential for Gary and gives him a job working with an off-the-books tree service that actually poisons trees that aren't good enough for the lumber company to use. Joe, though a self-destructive man, wants to give Gary a shot at a better life.
I won't go too much more into that story, except to say that Cage conveys the weight of his character's life well. From his face to a nagging cough, to his demeanor that portrays a man whose past weighs heavy on his shoulders, Cage is convincing.
What I found amazing was the fact that the movie was loaded with icons and symbols of the larger story from beginning to end. From the opening monologue by Gary to the fact that Gary's first job is killing trees and then, at the end of the movie, is planting them, the theme of hope among the darkness is a powerful, almost tangible desire.
The tension of the movie is not knowing which character is going to snap first. Inevitably they all do, but even as those moments of violence take place, I found I kept waiting for it to get worse. And it almost does. That leads to the climactic point in which the primary characters find themselves living out a scene by being exactly who they all believe themselves to be.
Joe didn't get a lot of publicity. I only found it perusing Netflix. But it is a good movie with solid acting and a story that keeps you involved. It reminded me of Mud in that respect. You will find yourself afraid of the knowledge that people can often be counted on to fail. But Joe works, and it works well.
I won't go into the plot too much here, but it is billed as a movie about the relationship between Joe (Cage) and a young boy named Gary (Sheridan). The writing is good. The pacing is pretty good, even though it tends to lag a few times, but only briefly. And while the movie isn't an action movie, from the beginning you feel the tension beginning to build.
Everyone in the movie seems to be in some state of disrepair, and while they all seem to be trying to get out of their brokenness, situations are such that the interpersonal relationships between the characters is ironically that which keeps both offering hope and healing as well as the cause for the inability to move forward. Cage's character tries to rise above his small town past by being a hard worker, yet his hangouts are also frequented by the same people he is trying to rise above. His past hangs around him as does the elusive future. Hope and despair are often in the same room and in the same scene.
Sheridan's character is the one to watch, because as much as you hope Joe can extract himself from the mire of the life that swirls around him, you wonder if there is any real way out for Joe that doesn't involve either violence or simply leaving the town for good. Gary (Sheridan) is one who has it bad - really, really bad - but seems to have enough wits about him to find a way out before he finds himself trapped by the same bad decisions that lead his father to remaining an abusive alcoholic (convincingly played by Gary Poulter).
Everyone in the story has the potential for goodness and to escape their situation. Some, like Gary's mother, refuse to do so. Some, like Gary's sister, just don't know how and would likely come to a sad end if someone like Gary didn't seek to protect them.
And here we find the true heart of the story. Joe sees potential for Gary and gives him a job working with an off-the-books tree service that actually poisons trees that aren't good enough for the lumber company to use. Joe, though a self-destructive man, wants to give Gary a shot at a better life.
I won't go too much more into that story, except to say that Cage conveys the weight of his character's life well. From his face to a nagging cough, to his demeanor that portrays a man whose past weighs heavy on his shoulders, Cage is convincing.
What I found amazing was the fact that the movie was loaded with icons and symbols of the larger story from beginning to end. From the opening monologue by Gary to the fact that Gary's first job is killing trees and then, at the end of the movie, is planting them, the theme of hope among the darkness is a powerful, almost tangible desire.
The tension of the movie is not knowing which character is going to snap first. Inevitably they all do, but even as those moments of violence take place, I found I kept waiting for it to get worse. And it almost does. That leads to the climactic point in which the primary characters find themselves living out a scene by being exactly who they all believe themselves to be.
Joe didn't get a lot of publicity. I only found it perusing Netflix. But it is a good movie with solid acting and a story that keeps you involved. It reminded me of Mud in that respect. You will find yourself afraid of the knowledge that people can often be counted on to fail. But Joe works, and it works well.
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