Killer Joe - DVD

Film: Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch), a small-time drug dealer from Texas, has a problem: he owes the wrong people a lot of money. If he doesn't come up with $6,000 real quick, his life won't be worth a damn. The perfect opportunity would be his mother's life insurance policy. But alas, she's still alive and kicking despite her pronounced penchant for alcohol. Together with his father Ansel (Thomas Haden Church), who is anything but well disposed towards his ex-wife, Chris hatches a seemingly watertight plan: Killer Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a cop who moonlights as a hit man, is to put Mother Smith around a corner. Too bad Cooper wants $25,000 up front. Unable to come up with the money, Chris settles on an immoral deal: he lets Killer Joe take his sister Dottie (Juno Temple), who's supposed to be the primary beneficiary of their mother's life insurance policy, as collateral, so to speak. It's a decision Chris will come to bitterly regret...

After Bug, Killer Joe is the second film William Friedkin has adapted from a stage play by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts, who once again was responsible for the screenplay adaptation himself. The fact that Killer Joe was initially a stage play can be seen in many scenes of the film. This also explains the somewhat theatrical acting of the actors. While such acting can often seem disturbing in movies, it fits absolutely perfectly here. Because the sometimes almost chamber play-like scenes and the exaggeration of the characters and their moral and character weaknesses get through this very special play of the actors the special something that makes the film not only intense, but also very amusing in places.

Friedkin, who created two real classics with French Connection and The Exorcist, shows with Killer Joe how skillfully he can juggle with different genres to create something completely unique from the individual set pieces. Of course, he doesn't care much if he serves the masses or if he only appeals to a small audience. Because Killer Joe is not a simple, smooth movie. Sometimes it's a bit unwieldy when it's too dialogue-heavy. Then it is full of brutality and controversial scenes, which will surely divide the minds and which are ultimately responsible for the fact that the film only received an R-rating in the USA after cuts, which Friedkin vehemently opposed for a long time. And also in Germany the film did not get through the FSK and appears Uncut only with the SPIO JK seal Keine schwere Jugendgefährdung.

Although the last third of the film is really hard to bear in some moments, it is also understandable why Friedkin is so against cuts of the film. After all, the film needs these controversial scenes to ultimately have the impact it ultimately does. However, this is also due to the strong acting of the cast, with Matthew McConaughey in particular making the biggest impression as the equally charismatic and highly unpleasant and menacing Killer Joe.

Whoever expects a simple thriller with some blood and a lot of suspense will definitely be disappointed by Killer Joe. If you're looking for a gritty, humorous, dirty, chamber-play-like, brutal and somehow surprising thriller-drama that doesn't care about the rules of the mainstream, you shouldn't miss this one. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: Killer Joe is a gritty film whose atmosphere has been well captured visually. The slightly alienated colour scheme and good overall sharpness ensure that the clean image ends up leaving a good impression, although there are definitely minor weaknesses in the many dark moments, particularly in terms of detail. The sound is very restrained. In most scenes, only dialogue dominates the action. Here and there there are small sound effects such as gunshots or blows, which then also take up the surround channels. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has some interviews with the director and the actors (about 19 minutes) to offer. These have a typical promo character, but still offer some interesting information about the making of the film and its background.

Conclusion: Killer Joe is a dirty little film, somewhere between film noir, black comedy and bloody thriller. It's carried along by a very good ensemble of actors, with Matthew McConaughey in particular standing out. Director William Friedkin has created an extremely controversial work that will be difficult to understand for every viewer, whereby the last twenty minutes will divide the minds. But those who aren't put off by the brutality in the final act and are more focused on the humorous exaggeration of the characters are sure to find great pleasure in the many qualities Killer Joe has to offer

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp