Killer Joe (2012)

Fried chicken fellatio. Trailer trash strippers. Bloodthirsty biker bailiffs.
Killer Joe has got 'em all.

At a glance:

The last time playwright Tracy Letts and director William Friedkin got together, it was for the schizo sci-fi Bug (1996). More accessible than that genre-bender is Killer Joe (2012), a slick little shocker that goes OTT with some dark humour, havin been described as Larry Clark doin a Red Rock West (1993) to Coen brothers crime caper with a Pulp Fiction (1994) gloss-over. Having failed the NC-17 appeal, the peculiar trailer they cut hints little towards the violent hicksploitation this is; and the movie may have proved even harder to market without its comfortable star draw. We follow the titular Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a bent NYPD cop who accepts a contract to kill the estranged, good-for-nothin mother of the dysfunctional Smith family comprisin of deadbeat son Chris (Emile Hirsch), sexpot stepmum Sharla (Gina Gershon), halfwit redneck dad Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) and daughter Dottie (Juno Temple) - the nubile virgin who ends up bein the collateral when the deal goes awry. Everyone is at some point or another either naked, half-naked or bathed in blood. Fire up the chicken and let the good times roll.

Bad news on the doorstep:

Juno Temple takes it all off for Killer Joe.

While it's easier to dismiss the complaints that are based on mismatched genre expectations, I seem to have shaken off the post-screenin euphoria to discover that this is ultimately a pointless, though entertainin film. It's also easy to echo At A Theater Near You's Chris Pandolfi in havin to recognise the film's technical merits and strong performances but Variety's Justin Chang hammered it home by questionin its raison d'etre to arrive at the lingerin feelin that this is some kind of inside joke - "a mostly well-done adaptation that never quite convinces you it was worth doing well in the first place". Somehow Clarence Carter's vulgar 1977 hit Strokin', a theme in the movie, makes us all feel a little played indeed.
Perennial wonderment:

It's only been six years but Juno Temple is certainly on the up and up; and it seemed so long ago since she first appeared as Cate Blanchett's annoyin teen daughter in Notes On A Scandal (2006). She might have landed the job here only because not many actresses agree to full frontals (ditto Gina Gershon, albeit with beaver wig), but her intercontinental brand of slightly sexual ferocity has seen her held her own in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Kaboom (2010), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), The Three Musketeers (2011), Wild Child (2008) and Dirty Girl (2010). Here in Killer Joe, she's 10 years older than the 13-year-old jailbait she's supposed to be for McConaughey's paedo cop but the young lady does command some screen presence, whether she's doin a standup doggie for him or aimin a gun to his head. Too bad Chloë Grace Moretz is still only 15, you can hear the paedos concur. Will look forward to seein her The Brass Teapot (2012) next.
Reminds me of:
Sidney Lumet's Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) and the Coens' Blood Simple (1984). Killer Joe is only the most recent in Friedkin's very varied 16-film oeuvre, which includes films like The Exorcist (1973) and Cruising (1980).

I can't remember if I cried:

The fried chicken fellatio. Killer Joe will forever be best remembered for an act of sadistic misogyny so degradin even Gina seen-all done-all Gershon looks genuinely humiliated. Very nice. Charmin McConaughey, the quintessential Texan talent, never acted better accordin to many, but it's also funny to read to that director Billy Friedkin says the man didn't even get it when he first read the script!

Most memorable line:

Thomas Haden Church: "I've never had a thousand dollars all my life."

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Thanks to Rue Morgue for the Scotiabank Theatre screenin in Toronto but now I feel guilty that the film's Twitter handle had retweeted my earlier one-sentence review praisin this as "vulgar, pulpy, pointless and chicken-sucking good". It's much closer to the chicken poutine I had prior to the show - a mess of instant, in-your-face, gratifyin gravy that you'd live to reconsider the mornin after.★★1/2
Bonus material:
"Totally twisted, deep-fried, Texas redneck, Billy Friedkin-directed, NC-17-rated, trailer park murder story masterpiece" as marketed on its Facebook page. Go check it out - they do have some funny photo mash-ups there.

Savages (2012)

"This is the best cannabis in the world."

At a glance:

Savages (2012) is Oliver Stone's bizarrely convoluted and crowded crime caper, starrin an embarrassment of stars who display no sign of embarrassment of havin fronted what is ultimately a pretentious and unnecessary film. We have the unapologetic ménage à trois of Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) sharin the wanton Ophelia (Blake Lively), as they get proper deep in with a fearsome Mexican drug cartel, headed by shriekin matriarch Elena (Salma Hayek), who is flanked by calculated henchmen Alex (Demián Bichi) and Lado (Benicio del Toro). Also joinin the fun are bent DEA officer Dennis (John Travolta) and Elena's hedonistic daughter Magda (Sandra Echeverría). Assault rifles, copious amounts of ganja, humid sex - that sort of thing.

Bad news on the doorstep:

You can always count on Blake Lively to liven things up.

An ineffectual, stop-start narrative from an inebriated Blake Lively takes us through the proceedings, so that's already a bad sign from the off. The performances are actually adequate, so it's a pity the story is just an epic charade with no real insight or class. Sudden violence often punctuates the misadventure, as we're taken through unconvincin characters arcs, glossed over by token THC science, double-agent psychobabble and even NTFS partition tech-talk, just so we know that everythin must be authentic criminal methodology.

Blake Lively: A dirty blonde
in more ways than one.

Perennial wonderment:

Will Blake Lively ever be a genuine leadin lady? Up until now we see her mostly in supportin roles, usually as the extremely available nympho with abandonment issues, like The Town (2010) or The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee (2009), in which I remember her best for her sex scenes. That beauty mole must be landin her all these lusty parts, not that she isn't absolutely convincin in the throes of passion whenever she does engage. I mean, even in Savages, her character's name Ophelia is shortened to O, as if to emphasise on the orifices on offer. Hollywood needs to get more range from this actress, before she ends up unceremoniously retired like Bridget Fonda one day.

Reminds me of:

Benicio del Toro
needs to be subtitled.

Ubiquitous character actor Benicio del Toro is up to his old tricks again - mumblin! I remember watchin a DVD extra of The Usual Suspects (1995) in which several of his co-stars were complainin they couldn't understand what the hell he was sayin in all his scenes, but the man insisted it's good for the character. Balls. Here, he does make a difference playin the unhinged Latino lackey and anchors some gravitas towards the outcome but man this is one guy who needs to be subtitled!

Salma Hayek in an afterthought of a role.

Most memorable line:

John Travolta had some funny lines but I can't remember them.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Clockin in at more than two hours, this could've been done and dusted in 90 minutes, especially if we're signed up for a multiple endin meta-film. It disintegrates into Eat, Pray, Love (2010) with the final sequences and I couldn't wait to leave the hall. Check out the slick official Savages website for more details. Watch this on DVD, if you must.★★
Bonus material:

"They must love each other more than you, otherwise how could they share you?"

Update:
Found on director Oliver Stone's new Facebook page, in defence of his movie. (13 July 2012)