You know his name from films such as The French Connection and The Exorcist and he hasn’t directed a film in five years, but William Friedkin is coming to the 2011 Toronto Film Festival with Killer Joe, a film based on the Tracy Letts play and starring Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon and Juno Temple.
I don’t even remember hearing about the film before yesterday, when The Playlist debuted the clip you see to the right. At the same time it was announced it was heading to the Venice Film Festival at the end of August and now it has found a place in Toronto. The festival provided synopsis reads like this:
When 22-year-old drug dealer Chris (Emile Hirsch) has his stash stolen by his mother, he has to come up with six thousand dollars quick or he’s dead. Desperate, he turns to “Killer Joe” (Matthew McConaughey) when he finds out that his mother’s life insurance policy is worth $50,000. Although Joe usually demands cash up front, he finds himself willing to bend the rules in exchange for Chris’ attractive younger sister, Dottie, who will serve as sexual collateral until the money comes in… if it ever does.
On the heels of The Lincoln Lawyer earlier this year are we finally done with the days of the McConaughey rom-com? We can only hope, because as the past has proven, he has far better acting chops than any of those films opposite Kate Hudson ever proved. Have a look at nine more images directly below.
The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival plays from September 8-18. For my complete coverage click here.
