Killer Joe

An impressively bold effort, Killer Joe details the turmoil that ensues after Emile Hirsch’s Chris Smith, in a desperate attempt at making some quick cash, hires a slick hitman (Matthew McConaughey’s Joe) to knock off his well-insured mother – with the film, for the most part, detailing the impact that this decision has on the various members of Chris’ family (including his innocent yet curious sister, Juno Temple’s Dottie, and his dimwitted father, Thomas Haden Church’s Ansel). Filmmaker William Friedkin has infused Killer Joe with a gritty and pervasively sordid feel that effectively complements Tracy Letts’ lurid screenplay, although, having said that, the film’s atmosphere of white-trash sleaze is, at the outset, somewhat difficult to wholeheartedly embrace. (It doesn’t help, either, that the movie boasts the feel of a stage adaptation, as the majority of the proceedings transpire within the cramped confines of a rundown trailer.) Killer Joe‘s transformation from watchable to enthralling, then, is triggered by the arrival of McConaughey’s mysterious Joe, with the meandering narrative immediately alleviated by the actor’s gripping and flat-out electrifying performance. And although McConaughey’s stirring work ensures that one’s interest dwindles whenever his character is offscreen, Killer Joe, which is peppered with a number of palpably striking sequences, builds to an absolutely enthralling (and purposefully over-the-top) climax that’s almost jaw-dropping in its audacity – which, in essence, confirms the film’s place as an uneven yet often engrossing piece of work.

*** out of ****