Review of Joe (2014) by Alec B — 22 Jun 2014

Or Nicolas Cage Doing Matthew McConaughey...

In a film that seems eerily similar to last year's Mud starring Matthew McConaughey, Nicolas Cage plays a troubled ex-con becomes a reluctant mentor and protector for a teenage boy played by Tye Sheridan. Joe is really about the performances, and there are some really wonderful ones here. Director David Gordon Green sets a deliberate pace to the film so that these characters have time to breathe and build a natural relationship. For the first 90 minutes the film is amazing, but it goes a little too far in its final 30 minutes. However, it can't derail Joe from being a really interesting character piece.

Cage gives a wonderful performance, and he reminds the audience as his ability as an actor when he's given something to do. Cage tends to be the butt of a lot of jokes, a lot of well deserved jokes, but he is a more than capable actor, Joe proves that. But he's not the only one working hard in the film. Tye Sheridan is proving himself as a fantastic actor the more we see him on screen. He is both strong and vulnerable, something that is hard to pull off for any actor. You really care about him, and you want to see him succeed.

Director David Gordon Green sets a great tone for the film. It feels rather bleak and hopeless most of the time, but he allows Cage's Joe to bring a sliver of hope every time he is on screen. You think things could really turn around for Sheridan's character who is in such a desperate place in life. Unfortunately the fault in the movie comes with how Green takes the bleak tone of the film to its full extension in the final act of the film. It's not a bad finale, but it feels a little too manipulative to really work.

Thankfully, the tone set by Green and the performances by Cage and Sheridan are so powerful that the film is still worth your time. You won't be sorry you saw this film.