Joe (2013)
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Tye Sheridan, Gary Poulter
Director: David Gordon Green
Country: USA
Genre: Drama
Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage of the Sydney Film Festival. For more information visitwww.sff.org.au and follow the Sydney Film Festival on Twitter at @sydfilmfest.
Putting another notch in his eclectic film making belt, writer director David Gordon Green, who has gone from stoner action comedy Pineapple Express to juvenile duds Your Highness and The Sitter to quirky dramedy Prince Avalanche, has returned with a revisit of sorts in tone to one of his earliest films Undertow. Such a range is promising to see, however it would appear the switch back from frat-boy humour to unsettling nuance is not without its hurdles for the director.
There is a level of authenticity to this piece that we rarely see on screen. Green has reportedly hired non-actors to take major and minor roles, filling the screen with refreshingly realistic weathered, non-Hollywood features.
An unlikely bond forms between ex-con Joe (Nicholas Cage) and 15-year-old Gary (Tye Sheriden), who has just drifted into a dead end town with his dysfunctional (understatement) family. Mum (Brenda Isaacs Booth) is in a constant drug and alcohol induced catatonic state, younger sister Dorothy (Anna Niemtschk) doesn’t speak and Dad Wade (Gary Poulter) is a violent and deeply angry alcoholic. Gary approaches Joe for a job poisoning trees in a forrest, readying the space to be cleared for other trees. The hard working youngster shows promise so Joe takes him under his wing. But Joe has violent tendencies himself that he keeps under wraps, struggling to keep it bubbling under the surface, distracting and numbing himself to it with chain smoking, alcohol and hookers. The two are trapped in a violent culture that they both attempt to overcome and rise above. They bond over their similar predicaments.
There is a level of authenticity to this piece that we rarely see on screen. Green has reportedly hired non-actors to take major and minor roles, filling the screen with refreshingly realistic weathered, non-Hollywood features. The locations are drab and depressing and these people look like they absolutely belong. A bonus is that they not only look the part but all perform the part. Or are they just “being”? Either way, they allow a stunning realism to the story - almost documentary-like.
Sheridan is solid, mirroring Cage’s performance - the two must battle their violent instincts. But it is newcomer Poulter who stuns. From his convincing imitations of drunkenness to his repulsively abusive behaviour towards his son and others, he is relentlessly terrifying.
Cage, however, sticks out like a sore thumb, bringing to the film the opposite of authenticity. Against the other performers, Cage looks positively out of place. His hair may be scruffy and grey and his skin dirtied down to look like an unkempt local, however his muscly physic does not fit. Cage plays possibly the most fit looking and buff chain smoking alcoholic on screen. It is a shame that he did not take the physicality of the role as seriously, perhaps adding a few kilograms like Sylvester Stallone or Robert De Niro have in the past, as he delivers a rare understated performance.
Sheridan is solid, mirroring Cage’s performance - the two must battle their violent instincts. But it is newcomer Poulter who stuns.
Green offers beautifully bleak visuals and moments of tenderness beside the violence (there is a subplot involving Joe and Willie-Russell (Ronnie Gene Blevins) in an ongoing feud) but his pace is far too leisurely. While it is admirable to let plot and character settle before smash cutting to the next development like so many films these days, it is also important to not lose sight of what will and won’t hold an audience’s attention. Instead of tightening the screws of tension, things crawl along at a rate that may compel some to check their watches. Such a pace is detrimental to the story being told and the impact it could have.
Gordon’s tone rivals that of Martin Scorsese and David Fincher with an unflinching exploration of the dark side of human nature, however his sense and understanding of pacing is yet to match those great film maker’s level. Perhaps with a little fine tuning and less common denominator comedy we may see another home run from this interesting film maker.
Instead of tightening the screws of tension, things crawl along at a rate that may compel some to check their watches. Such a pace is detrimental to the story being told and the impact it could have. Gordon's tone rivals that of Martin Scorsese and David Fincher with an unflinching exploration of the dark side of human nature, however his sense and understanding of pacing is yet to match those great film maker's level.