William Friedkin has made the most triumphantly dark, funny, and sexy black comedy you could ever imagine. “Killer Joe” makes “Fargo” seem like a walk in the park. The legendary director works once again with source material from playwright/screenwriter Tracy Letts — the author responsible for Friedkin’s cool 2006 film “Bug.” What transpires is a movie experience unlike any other. One particular scene, involving a fried chicken leg, used in a very unorthodox manner, is alone enough to insure “Killer Joe” a top place in the cult movie hall of fame.
Mathew McConaughey sinks his teeth into the title character with a calculated vengeance. His instinctively modulated timing, phrasing, and body language are really something to enjoy. Killer Joe is a nattily dressed Dallas police detective who moonlights as a hitman. McConaughey puts his thorough knowledge of Texas etiquette to ideal use. Joe only wears black, with the exception of his reddish brown studded leather shoes. The mercurial assassin gets called into action by the Smith family, a bunch of trailer-trash nimrods that consists of Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) — a dumb-as-a-stump dad, his latest wife Sharla (Gina Gershon), Ansel’s gambler/drug dealing son Chris (Emile Hirsch), and sultry teenaged daughter Dottie (Juno Temple). Chris gets Killer Joe’s number from the same guy who informs him of his biological mother’s $50,000 life insurance policy. Desperate to pay off a $6,000 debt to a local mafia, Chris concocts a harebrained scheme to hire Joe to knock off his good-for-nothing mom so he can collect on the policy. Chris plans to split the leftover money — after the killer’s fee — with dad, stepmom, and little sis. Forget that he doesn’t have the $25,000 to pay for Killer Joe’s
skullduggery services. Nonetheless, Joe comes up with an imaginative idea for a “retainer.”“Killer Joe” is a dynamic chamber piece showcase for all parties involved. The ageless Gina Gershon soaks up the limelight as a conniving tramp who suffers a brand of humiliation unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Thomas Haden Church gives a wonderfully understated performance that serves as an ideal foil to the craziness that transpires around him. Emile Hirsch has the shortest distance to stretch as a clueless spark for the action. Juno Temple practically runs away with the movie in more ways than one.
At 76, there’s no telling how many more movies the man who made “The French Connection,” “The Exorcist,” and “To Live and Die in L.A.” has left in him. One thing’s for sure, Friedkin’s fans will get a big fat kick out of “Killer Joe.”
Rated NC-17. 103 mins. (A-) (Four Stars – out of five/no halves)
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