Review: Killer Joe (2011)

“You ever hear of Joe Cooper? He’s a cop. A detective, actually. He’s got a little business on the side.”
– Chris Smith

SYNOPSIS: When a debt puts a young man’s life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance. – via IMDB

What the fuck?! Killer Joe had a great cast going for it that played their roles well with a disturbing as hell execution of the premise. I could get on board with the desire to kill your mother for insurance money, even hiring a hitman. I could get on board with how incredibly trashy some families are, and even smiled a bit at how much the film milked the trailer trash angle (I hear a lot about it in books and movies but we don’t really have that here). But then the secondary aspects of the premise came. The part about a grown man wanting a twelve year old girl, an adult male starting a sexual relationship with said child who initially did not even want him, that was terrified of the concept (and yeah, gonna say this), and suddenly was so experienced and enjoyed it from the off. For a girl that is not promiscuous, that should not have been her first reaction. Anyhow, let me move right on from that. Then there was her family that knew what the animal wanted and freely offered her to him. I mean what the hell, were they that desperate for cash that they were willing to pimp a child for it? However, the story was alright. Emile Hirsch was pretty good as Dottie’s brother, yet so damn trashy. I mean seriously now? McConaughey was definitely the show stealer here though, brilliant performance. The way the insurance money debacle went down was good, too, though I must say that there was a lot in this film that was just not easy to watch, that is just that. Then there was the chicken scene, and that was really pretty messed up, in all honesty. Dammit, why? The movie is unconventional, and I wouldn’t suggest you watch it with your parents/kids, it could get a little awkward. There is some pretty dark humour at times, and then there is a lot that gets uncomfortable, too. The performances are definitely worth checking out though! It is not something that I will be checking out again in a hurry in the near future, and I would definitely not recommend this to those that cannot look past the disturbing aspects of the film to see the content of it.