Killer Joe (2012)

Not many people seem to appreciate Killer Joe. 3 stars on LoveFilm, 6.8 on IMDB, and 62 on Metacritic aren’t terrible scores by any means. It’s quite standard for a good film which seems (as this has) to have gone by largely unnoticed by the world in general. There are however, an awful lot of reviews out there which proclaim it to be a horrible, unnecessary waste of space. That’s great as far as I’m concerned. Let a few soft people who like fluffy pretty films get stressed about it – that’s fine. It shows it’s doing its job properly.

Maybe it’s Matthew McConaughey’s presence – people see his name and think of happy smiley feel-good films like How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days or The Wedding Planner. Maybe they haven’t noticed that he seems to have changed direction more recently. Participating in both Tropic Thunder and Magic Mike does seem show some range. Not that you’ll catch me saying good things about the man. I still think he’s vile.

Unlike some of the other actors. Juno Temple is lovely. I was first made aware of her existence in atonement and since then I’ve seen her in The Other Boleyn Girl, Glorious 39 and, more recently, The Dark Knight Rises. I wasn’t that fussed about her at first but Killer Joe has upgraded her to I’ll-watch-something-just-because-she’s-in-it status. Emile Hirsch is also always worth watching. I don’t necessarily think he’s anything special but The Girl Next Door was funny so he’s in my good books. I don’t like Thomas Haden Church.

Killer Joe is a policeman in a small town in Texas. He’s also a killer, funnily enough. Joe is hired by Chris, a young man who’s got himself into a spot of bother with some drug dealers – he owes them money and doesn’t seem to have any. Oh dear. The obvious solution therefore is for him to get his mother killed off so that he can capitalise on her life insurance policy. His dad (now divorced from his mother) seems to agree too – it’s a plan!

The difficulty comes with paying for Joe – he wants money in advance or, when that’s not possible, a retainer. The stakes get higher and everything, of course, goes wrong. Pretty standard in terms of plot, but not done badly.

I’ve said before about liking films that make you feel something. Killer Joe certainly does that – and it’s a feeling that lingers. It’s an uncomfortable kind of feeling. Not fully shock, not horror, maybe a decent amount of disgust, but it’s mostly just uncomfortable. I loved it. As a film it is by no means perfect but I think it’s great!

And I shall echo the sentiments of others who have written about Killer Joe – don’t watch it if you’re eating KFC.