Review of Joe (2014) by Spangle — 13 Aug 2014

This one has many things going for it, but ultimately, does not live up to those parts. Firstly, the acting across the board is great. Nicolas Cage proves he still has it in 2014, Tye Sheridan is great, and Greg Poulter (RIP) is great in his only role ever.

The look and feel of this one is very realistic thanks to the alright direction from David Gordon Green and the great cinematography. However, the ultimate undoing of this one is that while it is always interesting, there is just not enough happening.

I cannot really point to ways in which these characters changed throughout the film, rather they seem to be about the same. In addition, the plot does not really do much and does have much depth to it.

Thus, this film is essentially about a man who takes a kid under his wing, which is a film we have seen many times, such as Mud, which sounds very similar on paper and takes the elements it has and does brilliant things with them.

Here, however, Joe squanders all of its good parts and winds up just being "ok". I cannot be mad at it, because it is enjoyable, but there is just not much to write home about here.