Film Review: Captivating Tale of Primal Manhood in David Gordon Green’s ‘Joe’

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CHICAGO – This week in movies about men we have “Joe”, a wild drama about Texas males at their most primal. It is the newest film from director David Gordon Green, and features Nicolas Cage in some of his finest work.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

The film’s leading man is the title character played by Cage, a boss to a group of day laborers, and man with his own troubled past of fighting (against local lunatic Willie-Russell, played by Ronnie Gene Blevins). When working on the job with his men, Joe encounters a young man named Gary (Tye Sheridan), who lives in a condemned house with his alcoholic father Wade (Gary Poulter) and his mother and sister. Under Joe’s wisdom, Gary tries to understand the notion of honest living, while Wade abandons the family in search of food and alcohol. The two men take their own paths, leading to a climax that has Joe at the center of everyone’s future.

As the movie’s spirit animal, Cage keeps the film charged, and unpredictable. This is a performance narrowed in on his potential, unhinged and huge all at once, but marking the return of taking his drama seriously. Unmistakably, he continues to be proud of the maniac he has always been, but plays this character with a grand sense of authority.

Cage appears opposite a group of supporting men who are vivid in their raw qualities. The young Ty Sheridan, after having expressed maturity in films from Terrence Malick and Jeff Nichols, presents a sturdy image of a young man trying to find an identity of maturity through hard work. On the different side of composure is Blevins’ tumultuous Willie-Russell, who confronts the theme’s defining characteristic of fear by wearing its mark on his face. His level of being a sociopath is equal to some throw away villains in action movies, but Blevins shows a true masculine fear in his worn face, even when he is screaming about his indifference to death.

“Joe” opens everywhere on April 11th. Featuring Nicolas Cage, Tye Sheridan, Ronnie Gene Blevins, and Gary Poulter. Screenplay by Gary Hawkins, based on the novel by Larry Brown. Directed by David Gordon Green. Rated “R”

StarContinue reading for Nick Allen’s full review of ”Joe”

Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage as the title character in ‘Joe’
Photo credit: Roadside Attractions

StarContinue reading for Nick Allen’s full review of ”Joe”

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