Review of Joe (2014) by Jesse O — 21 Jun 2014

I don't know why, but ever since I finished this film last night, I've been excited to write this review. Perhaps it's been the nature of my love/hate relationship with Nicolas Cage's acting. I used to hate watching him because I thought he was utterly dreadful and brought no charisma to the table. Then, after years of watching, I realized that Cage is also in on the joke. He knew how awful he was, and how entertaining he was at it, so he kept choosing roles that would let him be as insane as he could be to display that crazy, over-the-top Cage style. Once I realized what he was doing, Cage, while still thinking he was dreadful, became one of my favorite actors to watch. He's made me laugh more times than I can remember. Vampire's Kiss was at the peak of his insanity. If you love insane Nic Cage, and you haven't seen Vampire's Kiss, then you haven't lived. He's got a couple of legitimately good performances in Bad Lieutenant and Leaving Las Vegas, and also Adaptation, apparently, as I've never seen that movie (though I do own it on DVD). I think what Cage is good at, that he really gets no credit for, is selling the physical aspects of the character. The Bad Lieutenant character was a corrupt, unlikable asshole that was plagued by chronic back pain, which also meant he was addicted to painkillers. Cage very believably sold this aspect of the character, walking around gingerly, turning his whole body around to face someone as his back hurt too much. That was my favorite part of his performance there. His delivery was good, though he did have one really bad Cage moment when it was needed, and he was convincing as this corrupt asshole. But that physical aspect of a character is what he excels at. Same thing with Leaving Las Vegas. This was a character who had let alcohol completely destroy his life and Cage embodied that perfectly. That's something I don't see many people talking about when talking about his strengths.

But I digress, as you can see from the previous examples, I enjoyed Cage's physical representation of whatever issues the character may have had, his delivery, especially in Leaving Las Vegas, didn't really blow me away. I liked him in Bad Lieutenant, but I think a lot of that had to do with how detestable the character truly was and how Cage sold the character's physical ailments. With this movie, and I think this is the first time I'll ever say this, unless I watch Adaptation and I'm truly blown away, that Cage absolutely killed it in this movie. As far as pure acting goes, this is the best I've ever seen Cage. It also helps that the film is as excellent as it is. It isn't Cage carrying the film squarely on his shoulders. It's a combination of excellent acting from the leads, a great script, great story, editing, etc. Of course, I'm not going to say that there aren't elements of other films implemented here. I'm trying to come up with examples at the moment, but I'm drawing a blank. But if you're a film nerd, you know this film isn't the most unique or inventive in the world. What it does do, however, is take these familiar elements and tell an incredibly compelling story about friendship and redemption. It's also quite funny too. Not hilarious like Black Dynamite, but there's also a good amount of comedy for a movie that's also got some pretty dark moments and detestable characters. The story is fairly simple. Joe is a man, with very obvious temper issues, who's trying his hardest to stay out of trouble. Even with that Joe is a kind man, he's very caring and wishes to help people in any way they can. This all changes once he meets Gary, a teen boy that just moved to town and who's looking for a job. Joe, seeing a lot of himself in Gary, decides to help the kid, giving him a job and guidance. Gary comes from a very troubled household, with a verbally, and physically, abusive father. There's some implied sexual abuse there too, with Gary's sister not speaking after something happened. With the way the film climaxed, it's a pretty safe bet that Gary's sister was sexually abused by her own father. I digress, Joe, who's very likely estranged from his family, grows attached to Gary and chooses to help him when he finds himself in trouble near the climax of the film. All this time Joe's tried to stay clear of trouble, for fear what he'd do, but he gladly chooses to put himself in danger's way than let Gary go down a path that would lead him to where he, Joe, is at this point. It sounds corny, but I think it's very well done and emotionally resonant. Cage gives a certain depth to the character because you know he's a man who's made many mistakes in his life, and who continually makes them even during the movie, yet he's trying very hard to atone for what he's done and the people he's hurt. The movie, thankfully, doesn't beat you over the head with this message, as it probably would've taken a lot away from Cage's performance. Tye Sheridan is also surprisingly good here, supposed I shouldn't be surprised considering how good he was in Mud, but he's very convincing in his role as well. What I very much liked about Cage's performance is how subtle and subdued most of it was. Yes, he's got his moments where he's pushed to the edge and his temper flares. But for the most part, it's a more subdued performance where Joe, naturally, sees himself becoming Gary's protector, whether it is because of his estrangement from his family, or because he sees a lot of himself in Gary, it's up to you to decide. I believe it's a combination of both. It's clear Cage relished this role and, to be completely fair, this might be among his best roles to date. It's certainly my favorite of any of his movies I've seen. You know who also relished this movie? David Gordon Green. This guy should stick with independent movies for the rest of his life. His forays into mainstream comedy, outside of Pineapple Express, have massively sucked. I don't think his style is suited to working within the confines of a mainstream studio mentality, I think he's more of an auteur than people give him credit for. If Prince Avalanche was the start of his comeback, then this film is the exclamation point on that "comeback". This might not end up being the 'best' film I see all year, but it's definitely one of my favorites. Excellent film with some fantastic performances and writing.