Joe (2013)

Nicolas Cage plays Joe, a generally kind man from the South with a violent streak he'd like to keep hidden. That proves difficult when he becomes friends with a poor teenage boy (Tye Sheridan of Mud fame) whose severely alcoholic father (Gary Poulter) likes to beat the tar out of him. Hailed as a return to form for frequently slumming Cage, I wouldn't personally call this one of his best. He's more subtle and more into it than he has been in a while, for sure, but this role isn't as good as his best work. He's definitely good, though. Sheridan is about as good here as he was in Mud (the two stories have a lot of similarities that are hard to deny). Poulter is the real stand out. Apparently he was a homeless man whom Green had met in Austin. Unfortunately, he passed away shortly after the film was finished. The story is a little thin to justify its two hour runtime, but it's a pretty good movie.

Fmovies: Great movie, true to the novel in spirit. My complaint is that the novelist, Larry Brown, who wrote then story is not given adequate mention in the movie credits. His name should be first and in large letters because without his story there would be no film. Time will tell whether the film gets the recognition it deserves and Cage deserves credit for his fine, understated performance. I was surprised that the film was made in Texas when Mississippi was the location of the novel and would have had as good as or better locations than Texas. I hope someone is looking to make a film of Larry Brown's novel, Fay, another compelling story, but probably not to Hollywood's taste.

David Gordon Green, who's versatile career has swung from the sublime ('Snow Angels' & 'Undertow) to the completely absurd ('Pineapple Express' & 'Your Highness'), has swung back once again with this adaptation of Larry Brown's bleak novel, 'Joe'. The thriller follows the lives of country drifters surviving on the fringes of modern America's mid-west. The title character, played by Nicolas Cage, is a man with a troubled past and a short temper that has found a respectable - if teetering - balance in life. When he hires a young drifter, played by Tye Sheridan ('The Tree of Life' / 'Mud') as a day-laborer and tries to take the boy under his wing, that balance begins to tip when the boy's vagabond father becomes jealous of his income and his friendship with Joe. This is a film about fighting against your own nature and, though his more serious roles are often overshadowed by his over-the-top gonzo-ness, this is, by far, Cage's most subtle success to date. Don't worry though, he still gives the camera 'crazy-eyes' at least once.

Joe fmovies. I couldn't help but notice how much J-O-E is similar (or at least as simple as) to a D-O-G. The film is more than just a glimpse into the life of a man who does know how to live, but I was wondering if he served more as a metaphor for everyone of us as a part of the human race who live better when we're on a leash. Nicolas Cage plays the title character as a man who can smile and have fun, but lives off the leash. He'd be a good dog to the extent that he will always do the right thing. Just don't mess with him. Or his friends. "Joe" has been the movie event of the festival. It plays a dramatic chord through notes of laughter and some extreme intensity (seriously, of "Gravity" caliber). The violence is strong (the 60-year-old man next to me had to look away during one scene in particular), and the acting is subtle (realistic). Nic Cage, in his conversation at the SXSW Film Festival, spoke about his wife telling him that this role was as close as he's gotten to his real persona. I found it more along the lines of "Leaving Las Vegas." If you're reading that right, you should be expecting Nic Cage do start doing lower-budget movies (this was made for $6 Million, I believe). This is what he wants to do now (I quote him personally), and I believe this could be the start of a sustainable career toward what we might come to know as a legacy. Nicolas Cage, you should know, is the ideal movie star. He knows how to live, and he knows how to be kind. This is his return to form while there may be a *wink* or two in this film at what he's known as on this wild thing called the "internet." Still, he's not really like any other movie star, and there will never be anyone known as "the next Nicolas Cage." He is truly one-of-a-kind. As is this film. "Joe" is a simple story of simple people. There are many minor characters who just seem to exist in this world. There is one scene of him looking over to see a couple in a jeep next to him. I felt this might have been out of place, although the two made eye contact and it granted a laugh from the audience. What I wanted was this scene to be a metaphor for was a life Joe could have had. He doesn't like being messed with, especially when nobody has a reason to mess with him. He doesn't give them one, but when he fights back at them, the consequences are played out throughout the film. The editing lets the actors breath and the music lets the atmosphere live. Shot around Austin, an audience member (that same 60-year-old man) told me that the director, David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), grabbed a few people off a bus, and gave them starring roles. They serve as decay of human beings. We're shown the lowest of the low, and it will make you angry to see what people are capable of doing to each other. I don't believe people are happier on a leash. When we're told what to do, we may be rewarded with food, but at the end of the day, it's the connection to each other that makes us want to wake up again. Dogs play a major role in this film to the extent that one serves as a major character. In the final moments (No spoiler, I promise), there is a tear-jerking scene that lets you know that we can find happiness and peace. We see the dog in the front seat, happy with it's tongue out for the first time in the film, as opposed to the brute-ready-to-fight we've come to know in the back of Joe's truck. All we need in life is to be raised well. On that note, Tye Sheridan's (from "Mud&qu

Joe is a masterful work that imbues you to it through its realism. It is a perfect movie for Nicolas Cage to be in at this point in his career. While he has continued to put in world class performances and appear in uniquely great films, the actor has developed a reputation as a set-up joke. The interesting part is that there is no true punch line. He is one of the world's supreme artistic talents and he does more serious work than possibly any other movie star. With this culture of ignorance in the Information Age persisting fed by the corporate media, Cage has appeared in one of his best films yet, and in one that brings humanity down to its root nature.

Joe is a blue collar boss doing questionable work in the South who takes a teenage boy, Gary, that is at a pivotal point in his life under his wing. The kid's real father, Wade, is a disturbed alcoholic. Joe is not a perfect man himself, but he gives off the feeling that he wants to do right. The movie is a character study of him, and it is delivered in a type of full force by David Gordon Green and Nicolas Cage that is rare today.

It is not the restrained performance that the critics have described. Cage is in a fit the entire time. What the "professionals" are seeing is how DGG was able to make the moments seem almost like a documentary. While there is some strong personality being displayed, it is done in a way that is truthful to human nature. There is a real duality to all the characters. Joe brings death and life. Gary honors his family and judges them. Wade commits cruelty and shows his strong desire for empathy.

The "restraint" isn't done by Cage, but Joe. He is working to keep himself from emerging under the pressure of a backwards country. Cage is able to show that Joe isn't being two different people, but one man forced to go against his heart if he wants to survive, in a measured performance. He strikes a rhythm with his role and it combined with the entertainment of a drama that feels real, makes the movie go at a nice pace.

All the characters struggle against the system that has also perpetuated the falsehoods about the star leading the project, though it is best embodied by Cage's Joe. There is his fisticuffs back and forward with those who claim to work for justice, but an even better example is his job, which seems necessary but is criminal. The trains can't be stopped and their incessant movement brings about reactive forces in the people it affects.

Tye Sheridan does a remarkable job as Gary, however it is Gary Poulter's execution of Wade, or G-Daawg, that along with Cage's takes the film up a notch. His sullen moments where he stares down another character are deeply moving despite the dark nature of the person he is playing. It is a legendary performance, that will long be remembered.

The Old Media will tell you that this is a comeback for both Cage and DGG, but don't let them brainwash you. Most people just want to give everything lip now, thinking that this endless determination makes them a higher being, and the system needs to feed on its own BS borne out of greed's simplicity. Truth isn't found there. In Joe, it is.

Nicolas Cage has been roundly criticized since winning his Oscar for taking action and fantasy roles as well as playing "dark" and "unrelatable" characters, but he is simply being himself. He has always had a taste for the peculiar. If he were to do the projects "we" wanted rather than the

'An ex-con, who is the unlikeliest of role models, meets a 15-year-old boy and is faced with the choice of redemption or ruin.'

It is hard to describe life. Stories about mermaids fighting wars in different galaxies, that is easy to describe; but writing about life, sometimes all you can say is, 'It's about life'

Joe is a story about a place, a place most people might not be able to conceive: where things are dying, where people survive off liquor and cigarettes, where those who are supposed to love us drive knives into our backs.

Joe (Nicholas Cage) runs a small foresting outfit poisoning weak trees so the land can be replanted with sturdy pine. A troubled life, past, Joe moves from bottle to bottle and day to day, but when he gives a young man named Gary (Tye Sheridan star of the movie 'Mud') a job, the bond they form brings direction into each of their lives. Joe is compelled to help Gary out of the pit dug by his drunk father.

Director David Gordon Green of Prince Avalanche and Snow Angels and Pineapple Express can pretty much cut on all sides of drama. I think the mark of a great Director is you hardly notice he is there. Like Prince Avalance and Snow Angels, the movie's scenes blended so well with the story and characters.

Nicolas Cage is good when he is bad and good when he is good, so, no point in dwelling on him. It's worth watching this movie just to see him.

Tye Sheridan hasn't been acting long, but god damn, he has been in some good movies and he showed a lot of range in this flick, portraying an abused and scared and strong young man.

If you know David Gordon Green, you don't need convincing to see this movie. If you like Cage or Sheridan, you probably will check it out to see them.

Green likes to show certain things: scenes that might not be a part of the story, but add so much to the story in general, the way a writer might prelude a chapter by describing something connected to, but not in line with the characters. Joe has a feel, you can sense it and I was getting a little shaky half way through.

I know places and people, some that might pass for the world in 'Joe'. I have seen people drink themselves evil. I have seen young people fall apart because of those around them. But, I guess there is always the chance of coming out, and surviving, if you keep up the fight.

From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them.

in the end, Joe is a movie about people. I finished this film, thinking, 'There are people out there suffering and I can do something to help them.'