Review of Joe (2014) by Adam K — 23 Aug 2014

I don't think I've seen Nicholas Cage in a movie in a long time; I remember liking his performance in Gone in Sixty Seconds, but I also remember enjoying that movie, so I don't give that a whole lot of credence (my Grandma took me to see it, bizarrely, and I was 10). Joe proves he's an amazing character actor. This movie almost plays like a tribute to Joe's life, indulging in a bunch of scenes of him playing different roles to different parts of his poor rural community that play no real relation to the main plot (which is largely Tye Sheridan's story).

Joe's brand of gritty, realist narratives of poor rural lives isn't a new thing I guess but it's still unusual enough to be a refreshing change of pace, an infusion of character and diversity into mainstream narrative writing. Joe confronts a lot of stereotypes, identities, and narratives in rural machismo, and it manages to avoid glorifying them without denying the honor and intelligence and self-definition they can afford men like Joe. A lot of this hinges on the balance of tone, which Cage's well-rounded character pulls off with ease.