It’s interesting that the title psycho, played by Matthew
McConaughey, is the least objectionable character. Dressed in black with a
menacing smile and empty eyes, Joe Cooper, aka Killer Joe, is a cop and hired
assassin. He is a welcome presence among a collection of despicable dimwits and
the only reason to see the NC-17 rated “Killer Joe,” directed by William
Friedkin. Chris (a miscast Emile Hirsch), a low-level drug dealer, decides the
way to get the money he needs to payoff the local drug kingpin is to kill his
mother for the insurance money. He’s the story’s first idiot. Chris shares his
idea with his father, Ansel (Thomas Haden Church), a mechanic and the second
nitwit. Ansel’s trashy wife, Charla (Gina Gershon in a wretched role) and
Chris’s virginal sister, Dottie (Juno Temple) learn about the plan and add
their support. Chris hires a hit man, Joe, and discovers that he’s signed on
with the devil. Some of the enjoyment here, if you can call it that, is
watching amoral idiots dig themselves into a hole of their own stupidity.
McConaughey’s magnetic murderer dominates every scene he’s
in with a hushed voice that carries a threat and a coiled body that suggests a
rattlesnake ready to strike. Thomas Haden Church, with his comic deadpan
delivery and whiny voice, adds some humor to this very black tale. Hirsch’s
character is so one-dimensional that it’s hard to see any actor bringing Chris
to life effectively. Temple walks
a fine line of naïveté and lust and Gershon is just badly used. Two major
characters get beaten to a pulp at close camera range and though neither is a
likeable person, it’s still difficult to watch their faces turned into raw meat.
The climatic last scene is graphic man-on-woman violence that goes on so long
that it becomes sadistic. As a filmmaker, Friedkin is full of extremes and
“Killer Joe” is a prime example. 8/12/12
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