Joe (2013) MIFF Review

US   90 Mins

Joe (Nicholas Cage) is a hard-living, chain-smoking, heavy-drinking man living in Mississippi, running a work crew who are poisoning trees in the forest so they can be cleared for a pine tree plantation. Gary (Tye Sheridan) comes to work for him, a fifteen-year-old who is trying to support his family despite the selfish behavior of his destructively alcoholic father, Wade (Gary Poulter).

A couple of days after watching Joe, it keeps playing in my mind. It was such a hard film.

The slow pace dragged out the pain that the characters are going through and raised the torment for the audience – and this was particularly painful during the scenes with the evil Willie-Russell (Ronnie Gene Blevins). Joe loses control a few times and this would have been the perfect place for some crazy Nicholas Cage acting, but instead it was a considered and sinister release of the rage we see building up throughout the rest of the film.  Tye Sheridan is rapidly building a great rep, and I hope that he has good support and is able to continue to pick strong roles and build an excellent career.

I was surprised to learn that, apart from a few of the key actors, most characters are played by non-professional actors, including Gary Poulter who played Wade. I find this type of casting often doesn’t work as I become distracted by the poor acting, but not in this film. Wow. Just… wow.

Joe is screening at 9pm on Monday August 4 at Hoyts and at 6:30pm on Thursday August 7 at The Capital. Book tickets at MIFF http://miff.com.au/program/search or call 9662 3722

Mud (2012) Film Review

I’ve started on my awards season film watching again, and this is pretty much the only reason I watched Mud. Turns out, this makes me an idiot. Matthew McConaughey was indeed nominated (and indeed won) a Golden Globe and an Oscar, but not for this film. Phew, I say, because he’s just fine in this, but I wouldn’t have thought it was award-worthy.

Mud is set in the deep south and follows a fourteen-year-old boy and his mate who have discovered a boat in a  tree on an island in the middle of the swamps. When they return to it, they discover Mud, a strange character who is living a strange existence, and before they know it, they are assisting him in his endeavours.

Tye Sheridan was marvellous as the main character; a boy who, despite his rough exterior, believes in love and will do anything for it; for his own love and for that which he sees in others. This belief leads to him getting hurt; both physically and emotionally, and you can see in his face that this hurt is so real.

Overall, I didn’t think it was a totally brilliant film, but it is worth watching just for the performances of the teenagers.