www.bbc.co.uk/5... Fridays at 2pm on BBC 5 live. Mark Kermode reviews Killer Joe. A family put out a hit on their estranged mother in order to collect her life insurance in this new thriller from director William Friedkin
I liked it on the Culture show when Kermode asked Friedkin about the sexual politics within the movie and how they represent the relationships between men and women and Friedkin said "What the hell are you talking about? I wasn't trying to say anything about that! It's just about these particular characters in this particular situation!" - as much as I love Mark I've wanted somebody to say that to a critic for so damn long.
Kemorde's turning out to be one of my favorite reviewers alongside Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper, Jeremy Jahns & Chris Stuckmann. Great review, as always.
I saw the film last week at the BFI and the audience didn't seem to know whether to laugh at the "Chicken" scene or not, It was unpleasant but so was the entire climax of the film.
Just saw this. I thought it was fabulous. Great characters, terrific cast especially Dottie. Kind of fell apart a little towards the end but I was very surprised how much I enjoyed it. I didn't expect that.
I really enjoyed this film. Gina Gershon is brilliant, so is Emle Hirsch, in fact everyone is great in this, there's also some brilliant moments of comedy [Ansel's suit for those who've seen it, that's all I'm saying lol]. I'd say the scene Kermode is eluding to is far less uncomfortable than any of the nastiness towards women in The Killer Inside Me - although i think his feelings about it are valid..... I agree with the doctor 100% about Bug though - that really is terrific :)
The jet black humour in Killer Joe made the film for me. The chicken drumstick scene was more shocking than I thought it could be, I had to watch it with my head in my hands. Disgusting.
I think that critics just like to look for hidden meanings. The culture show interview was before this review which means that Friedkin had already said to Kermode that he wasn't trying to say anything about sexual politics and Kermode downgrades the movie for it here anyway. Let's face it, you can twist what's said and shot in movies to make it seem like it's giving out any message you want - I don't think that critics to this intentionally but they certainly do sometimes do it.
I enjoyed the film. Had some good comedy moments in there, when joe is questioning Ansel about certain photographs was great. matthew mcconaughey did a great job and stole the show for me, which was surprising as i never really rated him as an actor before.
I really liked Killer Joe, and where Mark didn't like those certain scenes I loved them. So I have to disagree, Killer Joe is a better film then bug hands down. But Mark Kermode is great none the less
the attention to detail and the cast was what made this film so great... that first scene when Ansel walks out into the living room he is wearing a dreadfully filthy "onesie" and it has rips in it then he proceeds to spit on his own floor... they don't make movies like this anymore lol his character was hilarious
Wow, I've never listened to his Twilight reviews but now I may have to look them up! But once again, and I have to add this, I do love Mark and other critics - it's just that it has always annoyed me when they've marked a film down (or up for that matter) due to a hidden meaning which was clearly never there to hide in the first place.
also on the scene Kermode's alluding to, i kind of agree that the tone of the scene is very odd, i wasn't sure if i was meant to laugh or wince.....although i think that might be what Friedken was going for...... :)
I agree with Mark Kermode's review of Killer Joe! I could have, I wanted to also embrace this movie wholeheartedly but for that damn scene! I thought the performances were outstanding, and it had a solid story, but for a few other problems, it could've been my favourite movie in a long while...too bad!!
I think kermode has gone soft. This was once a guy who used to talk about his love of nasty horror films and how horror and comedy were related. These days he's offended by such things and thinks Twilight is worthey of a serious conversation.
I think you are being selective in your recollection of events. MK liked Django and said as much - but he also rightly (in my view at least) pointed out that QT is very self indulgent, the last 30 minutes of Django was just silly and almost ruined an excellent film. MK was also less enthusiastic about Killer Joe than many reviewers. I myself thought the KFC scene worked very well and the acting throughout was excellent. But, MK certainly has biased opinions, he is a critic after all!
In my opinion the movie was switching between dark thriller and black comedy throughout and that wacky ending was the movie's way of saying "Yeah, this was definitely a comedy." Of course that's just my opinion, and I've been wrong oh so many times before.
*spoiler warnings for a 7+ year old film!* I lloved the film, and i sort of found myself disagreeing with kermode about that KFC scene, but couldnt figure out why at first, although as ever he's put his argument across in a solid, thought provoking way. In isolation I can get what he means, but I think it serves a couple of purposes; firstly, it hammers home Joe having hit the peak of his utter dominance over the entire family by this point (throughout the film there's events ranging from key plot points of him claiming their virginal daughter as a retainer, to smaller scenes where he's just strolling about completely naked which might well be played for dark humour in a similar vein to the KFC scene, but are also a way of showing how he's firmly asserting himself in the family trailer) which makes the entire family turning on their own son by the end more plausible. In terms of the humour of it, the "reach around and grab my ass" line got a lot of laughs at the screening when I first watched it, but tbf I can't really explain that beyond it maybe being McConnaughey's delivery. As did Ansel asking his wife how she's doing while she's cleaning up and her deadpan reply.
McConnaughey is obviously playing the entire final scene for laughs. He goes from being a mannered, even cultured southern Gent to being a raging psycho in an instant....and then he goes back to naive innocence with that last line to Dottie! It's brilliantly done. I have seen the film many times now and the best way I can think to describe it is to call it a black as night comedic farce. It's one of my firm favorites at this stage.
For me bug is a masterpiece and up there with my favourite films of the last 20 years - possibly at the top. Killer Joe was a very good film made brilliantly but not no where near his previous effort. I agree that Killer Joe is somewhat distasteful, but there you go.
What a strange comment. I never said that I had a problem with subliminal themes in cinema; just that not every director makes every movie with subliminal themes in mind. Please take your stupid assumptions and misplaced lectures elsewhere.
At least in Blue Velvet there was a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. In Killer Joe, there's nothing but tunnel, deep, dark and depressing. This movie is all pain and suffering. It's not worth the ride.
Spot on Mark! About that "drumstick scene"... Let me just say that if anyone finds that entertaining or intriguing, you should be ashamed of yourself. I'm surprised this movie has received as much praise as it did. Yeah, the performances are top notch, and the direction is superb. But the story is, to quote Jason Statham, "a bad day in Bosnia". By the end of the film I feel as abused and traumatized as its characters. I respect this film's intentions, but I hate its methods.
Hmmm, I have mixed feelings on Killer Joe, I, unlike a lot of people, found no problem with the drumstick scene. I just thought of it as a form of intimidation. I think it was just the guy playing Chris that turned me off. I was not impressed by his acting. Other than that, it's a pretty solid film. I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10, if not a 7.
I like Mark but he can be pretty biased when it comes to his reviews. He gave up on QT along time ago and although it seemed he liked Django, he tried to find faults with the film for no other reason than his dislike of the director. As for Friedkin, he can do no wrong in the eyes of Kermode. The fact that Friedkan's last good movie came out in 1985 doesn't seem to be a problem to MK.
All the characters in the film are despicable and deserve everything they get, so that scene is fine. In fact I thought it was funny in the context of the film. It's not a documentary so lighten up people. Save morality for real life problems, not entertainment and art.
I kind of liked The Guardian. There are thousands of horror films out there that stink, but it kind of grows on you this one. It is certainly very stylish. So sorry Mark.
Bug had some of the most irritating characters I've had to endure since Mamet's Oleanna. I just wanted to punch everyone, and then myself. But it's still good.
I really enjoyed Bug, so was suprised to be completely disappointed by this. The script is clunky, some of the editing is rubbish and there's moments of terrible acting. You can clearly can see the dead mother's mouth and eyes move. There a moment where Gershons character is shouting, yet it cuts to another angle and her mouth is closed. During the final scene, Hirsch appears to hitch up his jeans in the middle of being beaten up (honestly, have a look). It really is bad.
@@tcc300892 Not really odd at all, just want to know the full picture before calling someone an utter scumbag by default. The fact that you've said there was no motive strikes me as odd.
@@Technique-kj2bp feel free to read up about it. I'm not sure what kind of motive would warrant such behaviour: "Hirsch put her in a chokehold from behind, dragged her across a table and body slammed her to the floor". "A waitress told police Hirsch was really drunk and was grabbing Bernfeld's hair and touching her prior to the attack."
There were some funny moments, especially with Thomas Haden Church, but the end was so dark and terrifying, it just ruined it. It was kind of like watching a scene from Hostel. I get it, this guy's a killer and he's going to brutalize some people. But so what? I'm not impressed. I've seen real violence in real life. It's not funny or entertaining. It's tragic and horrible. I knew good and well that violence was going to be in this movie. I didn't know that violence was going to be the plot.
