When someone asked me what films William Friedkin was best know for directing I turned to the obvious with The Exorcist and The French Connection, but when talking about Friedkin’s latest film is it really relevant to reference two films he made 40 years ago? Since 1973’s The Exorcist, Friedkin hasn’t necessarily delivered anything of note. People may point to one film here or there as being decent, but it’s been a long time since Regan vomited pea soup all over Father Karras and now the hope is Friedkin can bring something worthwhile to the table with his dark comedy Killer Joe. Unfortunately, he doesn’t, at least not in any way that’s going to have the masses standing up in appreciation.
Starring Matthew McConaughey in the title role, Friedkin was off to as good a start as he could absolutely hope for. McConaughey bleeds Texas and starring as a Dallas police detective working as an assassin for hire in his free time is right up his alley. Making it even more enticing, this is a black comedy adapted by Tracy Letts from his stage play of the same name. Letts and Friedkin last worked together on Bug, another one of his stage plays and one of those films I referenced above that people would probably refer to as “decent.” The same can be said about this one.
The film begins as Chris (Emile Hirsch), a two-bit drug dealer, rushes to his father’s trailer park where he’s greeted at the door by his, naked from the waist down, stepmother (Gina Gershon). Pushing her aside he tells his father (Thomas Haden Church) he needs $6,000 or he’s going to be killed. His father will later tell him, “I ain’t never had a thousand dollars in my life.” So what’s a boy to do?
Word is, Chris’ mother, who stole two grams of cocaine from him and is the reason he’s in his predicament, has a $50,000 life insurance policy with the money going to Chris’ weird younger sister Dottie (Juno Temple) in the event of her death. And like that, Chris has found his solution.
Chris, along with his father, stepmother and even his sister’s blessing, calls in Killer Joe, a man who operates on a $25,000 fee in exchange for killing whomever you need buried. However, Chris doesn’t have the money upfront but is reluctantly willing to give up his virginal sister as sexual collateral upon Joe’s suggestion. We have a deal, but this is where the movie runs into trouble.
From here the film becomes a waiting game as Chris begins to second guess his decision to hand over Dottie to Joe, he’s tormented by the drug dealers that want their money and a whole other side story rears its head. Essentially it’s a bunch of filler leading up to a decent climax, which is two parts funny and one part disturbing. In truth, outside of Thomas Haden Church as Chris’ father Ansel, the film’s climax is really the only darkly comedic part of the whole film outside of the setup.
Much of Killer Joe is actually more traditional drama than darkly comic with any comedy essentially coming out of the fact Chris and his family aren’t the brightest bulbs in the box. Once you get past the idea a son has hired a hit man to kill his mother there’s very little left. Sure, McConaughey is 20 years Temple’s senior, but even the sexual relationship between Joe and Dottie is largely kept off screen. What Joe does with a chicken leg and Gina Gershon is certainly dark and disturbing, but that’s all part of the outrageous finale.
Bringing this all back to Friedkin, it’s disappointing he wouldn’t take things further in the film’s middle third. To kick the film off with such a darkly comedic plot and to end it the way he does makes me wonder why he would be satisfied with a middle third that’s so uninteresting. All in all, this is one of those films you’ll find on HBO or Showtime around midnight one weekend and watch as a night cap with your eyes half-open. In that case it will probably work, but giving it your full attention isn’t necessary.
