Joe (I) (2013) User Reviews (170)

The ultimate feel bad film

[rubenm · 7/10 · 3 May 2014]

This is one of the darkest, bleakest films I have seen in a long time. All characters, without any exception, are unhappy souls, surviving in a grim world, unable to improve their lives, prone to an almost genetically determined urge to mess things up.

The image of rural America this film paints, is almost like that of a third world country. Most men have a cigarette in one hand and a bottle in the other. Dysfunctional families live in decaying shacks, without money or food. Violent dogs are barking everywhere. Disagreements are settled by fistfights or, in some cases, by bullets. The only community centres are a grocery store and a whorehouse. Homeless people are killed for a few dollars and a bottle of liquor.

The central character is Joe, an outstanding role from Nicolas Cage. He is a loner, living on the edge of society, earning a living by poisoning trees so that they can be removed legally. He hires workers on a daily basis, one of them being a 15 year old kid who regularly gets beaten up by his alcoholic father. They get to like each other, but when the boy seeks Joe's protection, things get out of hand.

The main characteristic of the film is the gloomy atmosphere, emphasizing the desolate hopelessness. The cinematography is stark and bare, with only the soundtrack adding some effect. The acting is very effective. Above all the part of the boy's father is worth mentioning. It is played by a local homeless man, who apparently died a few weeks after shooting was finished.

Some reviewers compared 'Joe' tot 'Mud'. An obvious similarity is Tye Sheridan, who plays the same sort of role in both films, as a young kid who befriends an older man. But to me, 'Joe' had much more in common with 'Winter's Bone'. This film was also set in rural America, with Jennifer Lawrence as a teenager trying to keep her dignity in a world of violence and dysfunctional families.

The best drama of 2014 so far

[estebangonzalez10 · 8/10 · 28 April 2014]

"You pretend to be asleep, but I know you'd cry if I said the wrong thing."

Joe is a powerful and emotional drama that despite being slow grips you thanks to an intense realism and some excellent performances. Many have compared this to last year's MUD perhaps because teenager Tye Sheridan is in both films and they happen to take place in southern America dealing with some trashy characters. I really felt this film was more similar to Jennifer Lawrence's Winter's Bone in mood and tone, since MUD had an underlying romantic theme which this film lacks and you have two young characters that have to face great obstacles in order to sustain their families. With his performance in Joe, Tye Sheridan, has acquired quite an impressive resume despite his young age adding this performance to his work in MUD and The Tree of Life. As the title suggests however, the film benefits from a great lead performance from Cage who plays Joe, a man with a troubled past who gets a chance at redemption when he meets this young kid and becomes a sort of role model for him. This is one of Nicolas Cage's top 5 performances and a return to form for the actor that I grew up loving in the 90's. Perhaps my favorite performance in the film comes from newcomer, Gary Poulter, who plays the abusive alcoholic father. I can't think of a more horrifying villain than the character he portrays in Joe. Director, David Gordon Green, has also had a return to form after his disappointing turns in the comedies The Sitter and Your Highness. He is a very versatile director who received a lot of critical acclaim from his early small indies, George Washington and All the Real Girls, and then he also had success with his first stoner comedy, Pineapple Express. You would never imagine Joe was directed by the same person considering this is such a dark emotional drama.

Joe takes place in the wild South lands of Mississippi where we meet Joe Ransom (Nicolas Cage), an ex-con and heavy drinker who is trying to lay low working as a lumberjack. His life takes a turn when he meets a young 15 year old named Gary (Tye Sheridan) who comes to him looking for a job. Gary is the oldest son of a homeless family who suffers abuse from his alcoholic father, Wade (Gary Poulter). Wade spends all the money in booze and beats Gary on a regular basis. Joe's protective instincts come to play when he takes a liking for Joe who he tries to help. Despite having a lot of friends in the small local town, Joe also has made some enemies due to his heavy drinking and constant trouble with the law, and despite how much he tries to restrain himself from hurting others, seeing Gary being constantly abused awakens his anger towards his abusive father.

The characters in this film have a lot of depth and the realism with which they are portrayed by the actors is shocking at times. Sheridan gives a similar performance as that of Lawrence in Winter's Bone, Nicolas Cage is outstanding as well in his restrained role, and Poulter is so terrifying that he makes everyone's father look like a saint. The film has a haunting atmosphere and the drama is so rich that it is hard to remain emotionally detached to the story. It is a powerful and honest drama, one of the best from 2014. It's one of those rare emotional character studies that doesn't feel manipulative and never hits a false note. Cage reminds us why he was such a success in the past and I'm glad to see him back in form after a terrible batch of films.

Dark, Brooding Portrait of Rural life in the American South

[JustCuriosity · 7/10 · 9 March 2014]

Joe was well-received in its American premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. David Gordon Green's film, based on Larry Brown's novel, was filmed locally in the Austin-area. The film is dark, brooding, intense and most of all depressing. The story about a local lumber foreman – Joe - who tries to rescue a 15-year-old drifter with an abusive alcoholic father is violent and disturbing and one knows from the start that there is no way for it to really end well. I found the film a little too dark and a little too slow as it moves to what seems like an inevitable bitter end. I think it could use some editing to speed the pace a bit. The acting by Nicholas Cage as the foreman and young Tye Sheridan – fresh off of his success in Mud alongside Matthew McConaughey – are excellent. In a way, it reverses the characters in Mud where Tye Sheridan's character is trying to rescue the older man; in Joe, the situation is the other way around. The film is hard to watch at times and difficult to call enjoyable, but the story is still powerful. It is difficult to imagine that such a dark film will attain much cinematic success. Green often casts locals in his film. In a sad, but perhaps appropriate corollary, the Green cast a local homeless man, Gary Poulter, to play the important role of the alcoholic father. Poulter died on the streets of Austin two months after the end of the filming. It is a powerful film, but I doubt I will ever want to watch it again.

There's a nine star movie in here, weighted down by sensation--but watch it for the good stuff

[secondtake · 7/10 · 18 February 2015]

Joe (2013)

Where our children turn when their parents let them down is one of the most troubling areas for fact and fiction both. Nicolas Cage's checkered career doesn't diminish his strong, heartfelt performance here as Joe, leading a group of workers in the deep woods of some Deep South state doing illegal tree killing. But that's just backdrop, because a teenager, Gary, comes along looking for work, seemingly just from some patch of these rural woods or one of the little backwards towns nearby.

Joe has issues with violence and alcohol, but he's a truly good person deep down below all the conflicts and bad judgments, and he learns that Gary has an abusive father and troubled family. And he gradually gets involved. As this intersection grows, we learn more about Joe's world in the town, about some other guys who have it out for him, and about his sense of honor. It's that kind of world where government of all kinds, including the police, is considered unnecessary to the point of being bad, and instead people have a kind of independence that is sometimes admirable and sometimes pure belligerence.

That's the part of the movie I liked much more than I expected, and was what I took away above all—the portrayal of a kind of life and a kind of people, told with an odd kind of honesty that works.

It doesn't just reside there, however. The plot becomes highly dramatic, even sensational, as some of the shifty characters get motivated to get really violent. There is even a point when it gets so hairy for Joe he does something unthinkable until now—he calls the cops. You'll see, it's an odd turning point. So this vengeance and violence make the plot have teeth, I suppose, and it's fine, but I actually sense another movie that didn't get made here that was toned down two steps and had all these elements and yet kept the focus on the real grit.

And there's Gary, who is a pretty decent kid somehow (his father is about as bad as fathers can get, but his mom had some influence, I guess). We can finally see how a kid can escape a family horror and move on, while growing up and becoming a decent person, maybe another Joe, which oddly enough the world needs. It's worth watching just for all these things. Give it twenty minutes to develop, and it'll click.

Redemption of a Good Man

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 6 January 2019]

In the South of the USA, the foreman Joe (Nicolas Cage) works with his black crew poisoning trees for the farmers to clean the field. Joe has a trauma, since he spent almost three years in prison for assaulting an abusive police officer. As the result, he has troubles with the police and he is emotionally detached from people. He spends most of his time drinking and smoking to control his nerves or with a whore and his dog. When the strong fifteen year-old Gary (Tye Sheridan) looks for a job with Joe, he notes that the teenager is a hard-worker and befriends him. But he also realizes that his abusive alcoholic father G-Daawg (Gary Poulter) is a scumbag. When G-Daawg associates to the also scum Willie-Russell (Ronnie Gene Blevins), he crosses a line with no point of return and Joe decides to protect Gary and his family.

"Joe" is a low-budget movie with magnificent performance of the uneven Nicolas Cage in his best role in the last films. The dramatic and realistic story of redemption of a good man is crude and never corny. The excellent direction and performances and the original screenplay keep the attention of the viewer until the very last scene. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Joe"

That balance begins to tip

[basil1984 · 9 April 2014]

David Gordon Green, who's versatile career has swung from the sublime ('Snow Angels' & 'Undertow) to the completely absurd ('Pineapple Express' & 'Your Highness'), has swung back once again with this adaptation of Larry Brown's bleak novel, 'Joe'. The thriller follows the lives of country drifters surviving on the fringes of modern America's mid-west. The title character, played by Nicolas Cage, is a man with a troubled past and a short temper that has found a respectable - if teetering - balance in life. When he hires a young drifter, played by Tye Sheridan ('The Tree of Life' / 'Mud') as a day-laborer and tries to take the boy under his wing, that balance begins to tip when the boy's vagabond father becomes jealous of his income and his friendship with Joe. This is a film about fighting against your own nature and, though his more serious roles are often overshadowed by his over-the-top gonzo-ness, this is, by far, Cage's most subtle success to date. Don't worry though, he still gives the camera 'crazy-eyes' at least once.

Solid, if not great

[zetes · 7/10 · 4 May 2014]

Nicolas Cage plays Joe, a generally kind man from the South with a violent streak he'd like to keep hidden. That proves difficult when he becomes friends with a poor teenage boy (Tye Sheridan of Mud fame) whose severely alcoholic father (Gary Poulter) likes to beat the tar out of him. Hailed as a return to form for frequently slumming Cage, I wouldn't personally call this one of his best. He's more subtle and more into it than he has been in a while, for sure, but this role isn't as good as his best work. He's definitely good, though. Sheridan is about as good here as he was in Mud (the two stories have a lot of similarities that are hard to deny). Poulter is the real stand out. Apparently he was a homeless man whom Green had met in Austin. Unfortunately, he passed away shortly after the film was finished. The story is a little thin to justify its two hour runtime, but it's a pretty good movie.

A Refreshing, Unsentimental Portrayal of Southern Americana

[GSP_the_Moviegoer · 9/10 · 7 May 2014]

There's a quote about midway through David Gordon Green's Joe that I believe is crucial to understanding the film's thematic core. Forgive me if I'm paraphrasing but it goes something like 'These men have no more frontiers'. The line is in reference to the men Joe works with and in many ways applies to the titular character himself. Joe is a man that knows he is stuck; he has no where to go because his surroundings can't let him. Even though he thinks five steps ahead of the average man it is only delaying the inevitable. The conflict of the story however is not whether or not Joe lives but if he can save the future of a promising child, named Gary.

Joe is the kind of film that proves that a small story can be much more meaningful than a larger one. This kind of unsentimental character piece needs a small tight focus so all of the nuances of said characters shines through. Thankfully David Gordon Green understands this; his approach to directing the film is subtle and organic, allowing the actors to shine first and foremost. There are some understated flourishes and several instances of visual poetry but for the most part Green keeps things taut and unsentimental. He wants the audience to be immersed in the volatile world Gary and Joe inhabit.

And what a convincing world it is. Green's depiction of Southern lower class Americana is unsentimental, austere and straightforward. The film doesn't feel the need to overemphasize aspects of these characters live. Nothing is glamorized, nothing romanticized; the film aims for a hard hitting depiction of the character's world which only serves to further highlight the core conflict. Green understands that the audience needs to understand how close Gary and his sister are to harm and in doing so has crafted a thoroughly realized community teeming with details and nuances.

But the real centerpiece of the film is it's acting; three performances in particular stick out. Cage's Joe, Sheridan's Gary and Gary Poulter's Wade. Cage's depiction of Joe is not quite the subdued performance many critics made it out to be. Instead it is a silent colossus of a performance. One of Cage's biggest strengths as an actor is the ability to convey a character's thought process without saying a word. He makes a perfect fit for Joe; a man who is always moving, thinking, never given to slowing down. He is a frank straightforward man and Cage does the character justice. Equally excellent is Sheridan's Gary. Coming off his sterling performance in Mud, Sheridan proves himself one of the most promising actors of the younger generation. He brings balances both the character's more mature and intelligent feelings and ambitions with a raw, primal rage that surfaces in a truly explosive manner. Finally we have Gary Poulter, the dark horse of this movie. A non-actor Poulter was hired due to his similarity to the character he was portraying. And boy does he nail it. Seething with a kind of disheveled rage, imbued with a selfish nostalgic anger for a time he had a future; Wade is a truly terrifying character only made more terrifying by Poulter's raw, thoroughly convincing performance. If Joe is symbolizes a man in societal stagnation, Wade is that stagnation taken to it's logical, horrific end.

Joe is a gritty, hard movie about gritty hard people but it's also intelligent, heartfelt and riveting from the first frame to the last. It solidifies the comeback for David Gordon Green as a unique presence in American cinema and hopefully is a sign that Cage will do more of these kinds of austere, gripping character pieces more often in the future.

9/10

Solid drama, with excellent acting performances and a great direction.

[imseeg · 7/10 · 2 June 2022]

Nicholas Cage still has got it! The man can still act, he only needs a good screenplay and a decent director.

The good: solid acting performances in a bleak, hardhitting, true to life story about going down the drain.

It's a slowburning story, but a REAL one and however depressing it might be, it is touching as well.

Recommended for the arthouse movie fans.

The poison is not in the bottle, it has always been in our hearts

[pcrawake · 9/10 · 11 April 2014]

'An ex-con, who is the unlikeliest of role models, meets a 15-year-old boy and is faced with the choice of redemption or ruin.'

It is hard to describe life. Stories about mermaids fighting wars in different galaxies, that is easy to describe; but writing about life, sometimes all you can say is, 'It's about life'

Joe is a story about a place, a place most people might not be able to conceive: where things are dying, where people survive off liquor and cigarettes, where those who are supposed to love us drive knives into our backs.

Joe (Nicholas Cage) runs a small foresting outfit poisoning weak trees so the land can be replanted with sturdy pine. A troubled life, past, Joe moves from bottle to bottle and day to day, but when he gives a young man named Gary (Tye Sheridan star of the movie 'Mud') a job, the bond they form brings direction into each of their lives. Joe is compelled to help Gary out of the pit dug by his drunk father.

Director David Gordon Green of Prince Avalanche and Snow Angels and Pineapple Express can pretty much cut on all sides of drama. I think the mark of a great Director is you hardly notice he is there. Like Prince Avalance and Snow Angels, the movie's scenes blended so well with the story and characters.

Nicolas Cage is good when he is bad and good when he is good, so, no point in dwelling on him. It's worth watching this movie just to see him.

Tye Sheridan hasn't been acting long, but god damn, he has been in some good movies and he showed a lot of range in this flick, portraying an abused and scared and strong young man.

If you know David Gordon Green, you don't need convincing to see this movie. If you like Cage or Sheridan, you probably will check it out to see them.

Green likes to show certain things: scenes that might not be a part of the story, but add so much to the story in general, the way a writer might prelude a chapter by describing something connected to, but not in line with the characters. Joe has a feel, you can sense it and I was getting a little shaky half way through.

I know places and people, some that might pass for the world in 'Joe'. I have seen people drink themselves evil. I have seen young people fall apart because of those around them. But, I guess there is always the chance of coming out, and surviving, if you keep up the fight.

From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them.

in the end, Joe is a movie about people. I finished this film, thinking, 'There are people out there suffering and I can do something to help them.'

A decent film

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 6/10 · 31 December 2022]

Watching every Nic Cage movie before the end of 2022 (72/72)

This was the last of the Nicolas Cage movies I had left to watch, so I guess I've now technically seen everything he's ever starred in (at least those that were released prior to 2022, given some of his most recent films haven't had a wide release yet).

It was a journey filled with ups and downs... arguably more downs, but I was ready for that. Cage has been in so many movies, and while I think a lot of them are kind of bad, I think it was extremely rare to find a film where Cage himself was bad. He phoned it in infrequently, and the vast majority of the time, he gave the movie his all, even if that movie was never going to be good.

As for Joe? It's certainly not one of his best movies, but it's solid. I think his lead performance is quite good, and I like what the film's going for, but it's written and edited together in a pretty haphazard way. I think it's doing this to heighten a sense of realism or authenticity, but it just doesn't quite work the same way other movies have taken this approach and been successful (you could look at Chloe Zhao's movies that aren't Eternals, for example)

If you want a very gritty and grim character drama, Joe is solid, but definitely inconsistent. There are a few highlights and Cage gives a strong lead performance, but it's not one that I thought was particularly great or impactful. I didn't end my journey through Cage's filmography with a bang, but at least it didn't conclude with a total whimper.

Art's Answer to the Inundation of BS

[RealDuality · 9/10 · 11 April 2014]

Joe is a masterful work that imbues you to it through its realism. It is a perfect movie for Nicolas Cage to be in at this point in his career. While he has continued to put in world class performances and appear in uniquely great films, the actor has developed a reputation as a set-up joke. The interesting part is that there is no true punch line. He is one of the world's supreme artistic talents and he does more serious work than possibly any other movie star. With this culture of ignorance in the Information Age persisting fed by the corporate media, Cage has appeared in one of his best films yet, and in one that brings humanity down to its root nature.

Joe is a blue collar boss doing questionable work in the South who takes a teenage boy, Gary, that is at a pivotal point in his life under his wing. The kid's real father, Wade, is a disturbed alcoholic. Joe is not a perfect man himself, but he gives off the feeling that he wants to do right. The movie is a character study of him, and it is delivered in a type of full force by David Gordon Green and Nicolas Cage that is rare today.

It is not the restrained performance that the critics have described. Cage is in a fit the entire time. What the "professionals" are seeing is how DGG was able to make the moments seem almost like a documentary. While there is some strong personality being displayed, it is done in a way that is truthful to human nature. There is a real duality to all the characters. Joe brings death and life. Gary honors his family and judges them. Wade commits cruelty and shows his strong desire for empathy.

The "restraint" isn't done by Cage, but Joe. He is working to keep himself from emerging under the pressure of a backwards country. Cage is able to show that Joe isn't being two different people, but one man forced to go against his heart if he wants to survive, in a measured performance. He strikes a rhythm with his role and it combined with the entertainment of a drama that feels real, makes the movie go at a nice pace.

All the characters struggle against the system that has also perpetuated the falsehoods about the star leading the project, though it is best embodied by Cage's Joe. There is his fisticuffs back and forward with those who claim to work for justice, but an even better example is his job, which seems necessary but is criminal. The trains can't be stopped and their incessant movement brings about reactive forces in the people it affects.

Tye Sheridan does a remarkable job as Gary, however it is Gary Poulter's execution of Wade, or G-Daawg, that along with Cage's takes the film up a notch. His sullen moments where he stares down another character are deeply moving despite the dark nature of the person he is playing. It is a legendary performance, that will long be remembered.

The Old Media will tell you that this is a comeback for both Cage and DGG, but don't let them brainwash you. Most people just want to give everything lip now, thinking that this endless determination makes them a higher being, and the system needs to feed on its own BS borne out of greed's simplicity. Truth isn't found there. In Joe, it is.

Nicolas Cage has been roundly criticized since winning his Oscar for taking action and fantasy roles as well as playing "dark" and "unrelatable" characters, but he is simply being himself. He has always had a taste for the peculiar. If he were to do the projects "we" wanted rather than the ones he did, then he wouldn't be a true artist, and we would not have the profound work that we find in this film, with a character needing to do the "wrong" thing to be the good person others think he is. Cage was made to play Joe, and DGG, who has received similar criticisms for his "naughtiness," was made to direct him. They have both stayed themselves, and therefore have a better understanding of what is real. That this particular movie has come at this point in both their filmographies, is poetic. It is a reminder to the diseased audience not to let the system think for you both in terms of the story and who is telling it. For, it gives a picture of a backwards society that diminishes reality where culminating incidents brought by suffered individuals show the truth. Here you will find a bit of realism existing in a delusional world.

9.5/10

Great to see Cage back on form in a quietly powerful film

[eddie_baggins · 7/10 · 9 September 2014]

David Gordon Green is an extremely interesting director/producer who has over his career refused to be pigeonholed into any one corner of filmmaking. On the one hand you have Green's work on such indie's as George Washington and Undertow (Undertow was even produced by illusive Texan auteur Terrence Malick) then you have his forays (and often missteps) into gross out comedy with films such as Pineapple Express and Your Highness, then his often fascinating work on HBO comedy classic Eastbound and Down that despite skewing to genial humour at every chance managed to be sweet and touching against all odds. With Green's latest film Joe it hearkens back to his early work and more recent Prince Avalanche yet its most recommendable element is the appearance of an intense can't take your eyes off him performance by Nicolas Cage and another turn from young actor Tye Sheridan that showcases his abundant talent.

Joe the film doesn't gel in the way it needed to become an all-round top shelf quality film yet in amongst a lost and at times aimless story we have the presence of Cage as Joe, an ex-con who amounts to a foreboding, intense and fiery presence. Cage has not been better in years and it could even be argued that his not been better since his almost long forgotten Oscar win in Leaving Las Vegas. Joe is a layered character; a person not easy to warm to yet there is an underlying sympathy to be found in the man and Cage draws every last element from the role. As a perfect addition to Cage's long overdue return to form Tye Sheridan (fresh from his award worthy turn in Mud) brings the goods as mistreated and conflicted teen Gary, who wants nothing more than to provide for his family and work for it. These two actors create one of the year's best double acts yet it's within their relationship that the film falters most with a frustrating inability to get the most out of it.

Green certainly knows how to construct a film and his casting of many unprofessional locals ads to the films authenticity (as a by note Sheridan's father in the film G-Daawg is played by homeless man Gary Poulter who sadly died not long after the film was finished and in his only big screen performance was a true revelation) yet at the core of this story there needed to be more development between Joe and Gary for a large portion of the movies run time there are countless scenes that ad up to nothing in the overall story arc and with more time spent between Joe and Gary you get the feeling the films emotional punch would of amounted to a much more cohesive whole. There are not many things more annoying in a film sense than lost opportunity and you get an abundance of that here in Joe despite its many finely tuned scenes.

Too cold for its own good in many aspects, Joe is a film absolutely made what it is by its actors, from the resurgence of Cage, the increasing confidence of Sheridan and the raw realism of first time actor Poulter, this is clearly one of the year's most memorable ensembles. A unique journey that you can't help but feel had more to give; Joe is still a movie worth your time and another interesting slice of life tale from the unpredictable and lively David Gordon Green.

3 and a half dogs off the leash out of 5

For more movie reviews and opinions check into -

www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com

derivative

[magnuslhad · 5/10 · 1 March 2015]

In Mud, Tye Sheridan plays an adolescent who becomes enamored with a charismatic, but unstable, older man. In Joe, the exact same storyline is repeated. Joe isn't a bad film, and Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan both play men with a lot on their minds to a tee. Cage pops up in roles like this every now and again to remind us all what a fine actor he is, before going off to make more trash for a few years. The thing is, this looks like something we've seen already, in Mud, and Drive, and the presence of Sheridan only evokes Mud in order to remind us of how unoriginal this is. It's atmospheric, the squalor and inhumanity feels authentic, and there is a reach for nobility at the end. Unfortunately, we've seen this before, and too recently.

The true Nicolas Cage, at last...

[searchanddestroy-1 · 30 April 2014]

This has been a very long time since Nicolas Cage gave us a good feature ; since LORD OF WAR and, some years before: LEAVING LAS VEGAS. Besides these two features, he only made garbage stuff. He deserves much better that these craps he was involved in.

I still can't explain why he made such choices, it can't be only for the dol.

Anyway this film is exactly what I expected from him. He should have made this sort of character since many years now. Why has he waited so long?

We Watch here a deep study of the rural countryside of the deep America. Great performances help to enhance this amazing story of a friendship between an ex con and a Young man in his teens. Some poignant sequences for a dark tale, whilst not being depressing.

A true gem.

The hero and enemy in ourselves.

[swellframe17 · 7/10 · 12 July 2014]

3 out of 4 stars.

David Gordon Green's "Joe" continues a trend in independent American cinema of looking at the darker rural side of the U.S. I think this trend became more popular with "Winter's Bone" and has been played out in other films like "A Single Shot" and "Out of the Furnace." "Joe" stands out as one of the stronger stories though.

It's about ex-con Joe (played by Nicolas Cage) who works as the boss of a group of men who poison trees so they can get cut down and be replaced by houses or shops. Joe hires the teenager Gary (played by Tye Sheridan) whose father Wade (played by Gary Poulter) is an abusive drunk. Joe and Gary develop a relationship and Joe struggles with saving Gary or staying out of his life. It's a story we've heard before, but Green tells it well.

Cage, Sheridan, and Poulter are all very good. It's nice to see Cage do an independent drama instead of some high-budget cheesy action film. Sheridan (who was in "The Tree of Life" and "Mud") continues a great streak of acting roles. They all feel natural in their roles and bring these characters to life.

"Joe" is an angry film. Joe may be a nice guy at heart, but he has many faults. He drinks a lot, sleeps with prostitutes, has unfinished business with criminals, and cannot control his rage. The story can be taken over by this rage at times. It goes off track to show Joe at his angriest. I understand why it was put in, but I think it could have been cut down.

The story can be predictable at times, but Cage, Sheridan, and Poulter save it from being another coming of age tale. For Green, it's a return to his independent films instead of some of the poorly reviewed blockbuster comedies he was caught up in. This film feels more like "Snow Angels" or "Prince Avalanche" than "Pineapple Express" or "Your Highness."

"Joe" is a solid film. It may be hard to sympathize with some of these characters, but they are all played well. It's a return to form for Cage and Green and Sheridan and Poulter give great performances. "Joe" is a film about anger, redemption, and how sometimes our greatest hero and greatest enemy is in ourselves.

A cinematically beautiful testimony to the resilience of the human spirit

[katherinecmcmanus-881-430673 · 7/10 · 22 August 2014]

Sometimes, you walk into a theatre with no expectations, and two or three hours later leave with a bit of your mind - or even your heart - somehow changed; something has shifted, even ever so slightly, in a different direction. When I decided to click on David Gordon's Joe (2014) during a nine-hour-long international flight, I did so merely out of curiosity in regards to the hype surrounding Nicholas Cage's return to "cinema of actual worth," as one Londoner colleague stated. I did not expect to not only find no fault with Cage's performance, but to be inexplicably drawn into Joe's winding, dark narrative. I didn't expect to be forced to look at some of the darkest parts of human nature and yet still find a glimmer of hope amidst the depravity.

But Joe does exactly that. While by no means the best film of the year, Joe stands along films of the same strain and offers a unique take on the Darwinian, daily struggle of mankind while maintaining integrity to the ordinary man and the art of filmmaking.

Silent, contemplative and lonely films such as Joe really force the audience to appreciate what Complex called "grade-A filmmaking," sentiments which I agree with wholeheartedly. From the very first scene - a quiet, intense interaction between Gary and his alcoholic father - you feel the palpable loneliness, the sheer isolation of not only the dusty, Southern landscape, but of the characters themselves as they attempt to navigate their way through a world that just doesn't… fit. Or, rather, a world they cannot fit into. Everyone in this film struggles with something, and even when you cannot pinpoint exactly what they're struggling against, that tension - the inexplicable pull - suffocates every frame. Not only that, but the script shocks with every twist, every word, and every quotable scene. It's stunningly, tragically poetic - a cinematic gem in the midst of so much (admittedly wonderful) commercial fodder.

And that leads into the characters - the true masterpieces of this film. Only two recognisable names top off the cast list of this remarkable ensemble of - wait for it - … real, ordinary people; not of the polished, refined and gorgeous faces that have graced Hollywood for decades, but of the broken, the meek and the lost; those that we - the audience - never seem to consider. You are witnessing the struggles of ordinary people as they fight through a dog-eat-dog world in which everything seems to be utterly pointless.

Though Nicholas Cage's recent cinematic endeavours have been… questionable at best, Joe marks a turning point in the actor's long and oftentimes rocky career, and back to the Cage that fans know and love dearly - the one that won the Academy Award for Leaving Las Vegas (1995). While by no means an Academy Award-worthy performance, in Joe, Cage truly showed off his chops as a seasoned, thoughtful actor who could embody even the most minute, seemingly unimportant parts of a character. He was engaging even in a stupor, truly terrifying in rage. And if Joe is any indication of Cage's reemergence as a contender to the big screen, then the same can be said of young Tye Sheridan, who follows up his performance in Jeff Nichols's Mud (2013) with another fantastic characterisation of the hopeful, curious, young boy. Granted, he hasn't done much outside of this very specific genre, but he is still young, and the future is definitely bright.

Despite obviously dark subject matter, Joe flips what has literally been (poetically, beautifully) rammed down our throats on its head… within the final ten minutes. Somehow, despite everything that you had just witnessed - from murder to alcoholism to sheer human depravity - a glimmer of hope shines through. Even in the darkest of times, there is hope in the next generation - in the future.

Joe was never built to be a contender for awards in the festival circuits. It was never going to be brought to the Academy Awards to compete to films of an equal caliber. It's just not that good. For, what what it was - and I say that with the least condescension and criticism possible - Joe fit the bill and over exceeded admittedly low expectations. Truly, it was a fantastic piece of cinema.

Don't watch Joe expecting a rousing, inspiring tale of the indomitable nature of the human spirit (despite an admittedly uplifting, bittersweet end - no spoilers), but do expect a very dark look into some of the most depraved aspects of humanity, with a somewhat heart-warming conclusion that brings all loose ends together, and beautifully so. Joe stands as an unflinching testimony to the Darwinian law of mankind, a brutal landscape of man-versus-man, and survival of the fittest. And truly, the film's end - despite it's dark content - was almost a reaffirmation of the silver lining in any situation. We may not be diamonds in the rough - not everyone out there is a Will Hunting, a flamingo among the pigeons. The human spirit may not be able to shine… but it can endure. And that, in itself, has a certain kind of beauty that is as unexpected as it is genuine.

There is no magic .....

[PimpinAinttEasy · 6/10 · 9 July 2014]

This films wasn't half bad. It did have some balls. But it lacked magic at the end of the day. NICHOLAS CAGE must be lamenting that he did not live up to the promise that he showed in WILD AT HEART. He does a decent job in this film. But it is all pretty uninspired. I was reminded of the William Faulkner novel LIGHT IN AUGUST while watching the movie. The film does make me curious about Larry Brown's work.

But the scenes lacked weight. There were hardly any gripping moments. The supporting cast was unremarkable. And the ending was too much like TAXI DRIVER and GRAN TORINO. It's not bad for a watch. Especially if you like movies based in Southern America.

The Return of Nicolas Cage

[TopherAllen1112 · 9/10 · 13 March 2014]

I couldn't help but notice how much J-O-E is similar (or at least as simple as) to a D-O-G. The film is more than just a glimpse into the life of a man who does know how to live, but I was wondering if he served more as a metaphor for everyone of us as a part of the human race who live better when we're on a leash. Nicolas Cage plays the title character as a man who can smile and have fun, but lives off the leash. He'd be a good dog to the extent that he will always do the right thing. Just don't mess with him. Or his friends. "Joe" has been the movie event of the festival. It plays a dramatic chord through notes of laughter and some extreme intensity (seriously, of "Gravity" caliber). The violence is strong (the 60-year-old man next to me had to look away during one scene in particular), and the acting is subtle (realistic). Nic Cage, in his conversation at the SXSW Film Festival, spoke about his wife telling him that this role was as close as he's gotten to his real persona. I found it more along the lines of "Leaving Las Vegas." If you're reading that right, you should be expecting Nic Cage do start doing lower-budget movies (this was made for $6 Million, I believe). This is what he wants to do now (I quote him personally), and I believe this could be the start of a sustainable career toward what we might come to know as a legacy. Nicolas Cage, you should know, is the ideal movie star. He knows how to live, and he knows how to be kind. This is his return to form while there may be a *wink* or two in this film at what he's known as on this wild thing called the "internet." Still, he's not really like any other movie star, and there will never be anyone known as "the next Nicolas Cage." He is truly one-of-a-kind. As is this film. "Joe" is a simple story of simple people. There are many minor characters who just seem to exist in this world. There is one scene of him looking over to see a couple in a jeep next to him. I felt this might have been out of place, although the two made eye contact and it granted a laugh from the audience. What I wanted was this scene to be a metaphor for was a life Joe could have had. He doesn't like being messed with, especially when nobody has a reason to mess with him. He doesn't give them one, but when he fights back at them, the consequences are played out throughout the film. The editing lets the actors breath and the music lets the atmosphere live. Shot around Austin, an audience member (that same 60-year-old man) told me that the director, David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), grabbed a few people off a bus, and gave them starring roles. They serve as decay of human beings. We're shown the lowest of the low, and it will make you angry to see what people are capable of doing to each other. I don't believe people are happier on a leash. When we're told what to do, we may be rewarded with food, but at the end of the day, it's the connection to each other that makes us want to wake up again. Dogs play a major role in this film to the extent that one serves as a major character. In the final moments (No spoiler, I promise), there is a tear-jerking scene that lets you know that we can find happiness and peace. We see the dog in the front seat, happy with it's tongue out for the first time in the film, as opposed to the brute-ready-to-fight we've come to know in the back of Joe's truck. All we need in life is to be raised well. On that note, Tye Sheridan's (from "Mud" (2012) with Matthew McConaughey) part is played tough, but his deadbeat abusive father has become such a bad influence, and Gary is smart enough to know not to follow in his footsteps. This film was nearly perfect, but sadly still not made for everyone. I hope, when it's finally released worldwide to audiences everywhere, I'm wrong about that, and audiences see it. It's an important film, as well as very entertaining.

Surprisingly good!

[semmelein · 7/10 · 19 April 2020]

I didn't expect much and just expected to get your average badass revenge movie, sorry of - but this one is actually much more and much deeper, especially for a Nicolas Cage movie these days. Honestly - he does a great job and I really enjoyed the movie. :)

A desperate film about anger management, poverty, family abuse, cruelty

[gradyharp · 8/10 · 14 April 2014]

Director David Gordon Green is known for Pineapple Express (2008), All the Real Girls (2003) and George Washington (2000) and makes it his practice to cast his movie extras from locals in the area in which he is shooting his films. In Austin, Texas he found a street person - Gary Poulter - who plays a significant role in this film, Two months after the film was completed Pouter was found dead on the streets of Austin. That sets a tone for the film - very dark, little in the way of redemptive force, but an opportunity for Nicholas Cage and Tye Sheridan to prove their acting chops.

Joe Ransom (Nicholas Cage) drops the bottles as quickly as he burned his life. Joe is perhaps irresponsible, but is no less a hard worker. He manages a work team of black men who admire him in a forest where his task is to poison trees so that an outside contractor and come in and rid the woods of bad trees and plant good ones (there is a fine line of parallel to the story here). Joe encounters Gary (Tye Sheridan), a boy of 15 years, and his father, Wade aka G-Daawg (Gary Poulter), an alcoholic good-for-nothing. For Gary, all is not lost; there is still time for him to seek the right path, to escape from the control of damaging his father yet still support his mute sister and pathetic helpless mother. Joe struggles with his past as an ex-con, his alcoholism, his dependency on female sex workers, and attempting of manage his short-fused anger that gets him into trouble all too frequently. Joe takes on Gary, gives him work, lets him use his truck, and in general protects Gary from harm. A town bully/creep Willie-Russell (Ronnie Gene Blevins) has endured abuse from Joe and is stalking him and eventually Gary and G-Dwaag in a revenge twist. How Joe deals with coping with redemption or ruin plays out in the final scenes of this film.

The film is unrelentingly dark, both in camera action and in storyline. The only thing that keeps is afloat is the sensitivity of the bilaterally desperately needy relationship between Cage and Sheridan - and they make us care about them.

Could be called Saving Joe instead of just Joe

[OneAnjel · 7/10 · 19 April 2021]

I decided to watch this after glancing at the reviews but found it very slow as the film tried to cement the poverty and depravity in the deep south surrounding Joe's plight. It's hard to watch at times and some have said it was over the top and even racially slanted. But the sad truth is this is a realistic lens into some of the pockets in the deep south. And it's not the first to spotlight the the poorest circumstances even in the US starting with Splendor in the Grass, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Mississippi Burning to Monster's Ball, 8 Mile, Ballast and many others, although admittedly the ones with this level of shock are usually in the horror genre. But it's a necessary set up to show the lack of hope and fairness in Joe's life and how much it means to him to save this young man, Gary -- and in doing so, saving himself by giving hope to someone he identifies with. I thought all of the acting was superb and the set design was spot on.

compelling bleakness

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 10 January 2015]

Joe Ransom (Nicolas Cage) and his men clear unwanted trees using poison in rural Texas. He has a violent temper especially with the creepy Willie (Ronnie Gene Blevins) and the cops. People like Joe but he did time for assaulting cops. 15-year-old drifter Gary (Tye Sheridan) talks Joe into hiring him onto the crew. Willie shoots at Joe injuring him. Later, Gary gets into a fight with Willie. Connie (Adriene Mishler) stays with Joe after her mother's pervert boyfriend comes back into her home. Gary's alcoholic father Wade (Gary Poulter) gets them both fired by Joe and then beats Gary out of his money. Joe takes pity on Gary and hires him back. Wade robs and kills a man. Then he sells his daughter to Willie.

Nicolas Cage returns to form but it's Gary Poulter who steals the movie. A homeless drunk in real life, he gives one of the most visceral performance on screen. There is a wildness in the man that transcends acting. He is fully committed when he beats up the boy. Ronnie Gene Blevins also gives a terrific performance as the creep. There is a superb bleakness with this rural backdrop.

Joe

[henry8-3 · 6/10 · 18 May 2021]

Cage plays a highly regarded local ex con who runs a tree poisoning crew but battles his alcoholism and the violent temper that landed him in jail. When a young boy (Sheridan) starts working for him, he bonds with the boy but is troubled by the abuse he receives from his father.

Nice to see Cage act well rather than just going off the deep end for a change. His character is likeable and often quite funny, but you can see the violent explosion building up in him throughout the film, which to be fair is the dramatic point. The film is stolen though by Gary Poulter as Sheridan's vile alcoholic father who will do anything for his next drink. (Apparently he was a homeless actor who sadly died 2 weeks after filming completed). Worrying on 2 counts - this is apparently a reasonably realistic insight into southern USA and that Cage thought the character was so close to him, he didn't have to act. Nice.

Meh, what's the point?

[gfrancis0 · 3/10 · 19 September 2015]

Yes the acting is very good and there are quirky characters. If you think that everyday life on the tough side of town is nothing special and not worth spending 2 hours watching it in a movie, like I do, then you will be bored by this film too. There is barely a plot and what there is doesn't even make sense. Hated the ending too, mostly because it made the least sense. One minute the lazy dirtbag kills a hobo for $2, something he has obviously been doing with no regrets for 20 or 30 years, the next he minute he willingly kills himself when under no threat. Yep, totally believable. I guess they want you to think that he instantly developed a conscience after being a total asshole for most of his life. And he couldn't just start being nice, but had to completely give up in an instant, sorry guys, not buying it. You can hang out at a homeless shelter for free if this kind of behavior is something that you consider entertaining.