...it's a bygone truth in considering that the impact...the very vibrancy of the hero of the story is directly proportionate to, reciprocative of...and in most cases...is outright dependent upon the often times greater impact and vibrancy of the villain. Let's face it: we have certain expectations, when it comes to the hero, and without fail...unless that hero takes total leave of his senses...the hero typically performs as expected, with no real surprises; however, without a worthy and polar-opposite comparable adversary, the hero really has nothing to do, right?? The old story of 'there's no good, unless there's bad...and vice-versa. And how about the villain?? A picture of self-interest...relentless...conniving...often times, violent...clearly knowing right from wrong, but not caring...quite literally carefree, in fact. And there's no denying that in each and very one of us, there's a spark of envy, in that respect...though, it's intervening morality, which keeps us 'normal people' in check...
...and yet, without a hero to take on the villain...well, there's the unpredictability of the proceedings. A carefree immorality might tap the spectrum, from chaos to boredom (...for the latter, consider flashing back to a circa 1980 General Zod, in his resigning exclamation of, "...sigh...I'm the master of all I survey. I was so, yesterday, and I will be, tomorrow. Is there anyone on this planet to challenge me??"). And sometimes...well, is there ever really a hero, to begin with?? Leaving us with the bad guy, to allure and captivate us with his carefree, villainous decadence?? Perhaps suggesting the standard, cut & dry good guy/bad guy relationship as comparable to the 'secret life of plants', man vs. flora motif, once melodically told about by pop singer Stevie Wonder...coolly strutting the limpid tones of 'you need us, but we don't need you'...you know, that kind of imbalanced sense of 'give and take'...thus providing a villain who...in a skewed way...we can genuinely get behind...perhaps even live precariously through...someone like...well, like...
...picture of a young man, in the throes of turmoil and desperation. It seems that Chris, a hick drug dealer, living in a rural, trailer park area of Dallas, Texas, has racked himself up some serious debt, which he's let get out of control...the kind of un-payable debt, which often leads to a subsequent loss of fingers...limbs...perhaps even a precarious transport of personal body parts, in multiple cars, simultaneously traveling in different directions. But wait...an idea. What was it, he remember Rex telling him?? Barging in on his dumb-as-dirt witless, shiftless, redneck father, Ansel, and Ansel's angst, foul-mouthed & acidically critical wife, Sharla, late one rain-soaked night, Chris confides with Ansel, in suggesting that they arrange to have Ansel's first wife & Chris' mother, Adele, killed. Why?? Well, it seems that Chris overheard Rex, now married to Adele, talking about the suggestion that Adele's life insurance is worth $50,000, and that if Adele dies, the money would go to Chris' sister, Dottie, who is also living with Ansel and Sharla...
...oh, yeah...leave us not forget that Rex...oh, he also just happened to mention in passing, the availability of a local hitman, named 'Killer' Joe Cooper...a cool, regimented and respected Dallas police detective, who moonlights and sidelines as a contract killer...
...and so, Chris...quite eager to clear his debt, and perhaps guilt-riddenly spread a little much-needed wealth amongst his dysfunctional family...contacts this 'Killer' Joe, and makes his proposal; of course, the covert arrangement comes close to turning sour, and not happening, when a rather stern, demandant and intimidating Joe insists upon immediate payment for the job, before performing it...and nearly walks away from the deal, when told that his payment can't be rendered until the insurance money on the proposed victim, pays out. And yes, that's 'nearly walks', in the sense that when Joe is about to step out the door, he finds himself quite taken by the naive, innocent and childlike demeanor of Chris' sister, Dottie, whom he has since become quite attracted to. And considering that, Joe recants his decision to drop the deal, and instead, proposes a rather unconventional alternate arrangement: until such time that the insurance pays out, Joe would...despite Chris' approval...hold onto Dottie, as a 'retainer'...
...however, as these rather skewed events further unfold, and Joe proceeds with the hit on Adele, as contracted...as well as 'tickling Dottie's fancy', in perspectively putting such things, rather understated...sinister truths and hidden intent amongst the conniving players herein, makes these matters much more complicated...so complicated, in fact, that Joe becomes suspicious of a double-cross, and steps in to rectify matters in his own twistedly incomparable manner...actions which drive the ensuingly underhanded and covert events to an explosive crescendo, powerful enough to potentially leave a devastating and deadening crater, where the setting's rustic trailer park stands...
...and as suggestively powerful as this arcane and noir-ish premise might suggest...of course, given some strategically placed literary discipline, to mask any surprises...most viewers might well be unprepared for the delicious, albeit unnerving and jaw-dropping luridness of what lies between the lines of this torrid little tale...this pulpish pot-boiler, keenly and adeptly directed by a filmmaker, who's hardly a stranger to such lurid and provocative material...that being William Friedkin (...2006's psychological "Bug", 1980's "Cruising", 1985's "To Live and Die in L.A.", and...well, leave us not forget about a little horror ditty from 1973...eh, I think it was called "The Exorcist", or something like that). In "Killer Joe", Friedkin delectably marries a compelling, perpetually interweaving murder/double-cross scenario...based upon a 1993 off-Broadway play, written by Tracy Letts (...who also wrote the aforementioned "Bug", in addition to lending her screenplay prowess, here)...with a level of deliciously pitch-black dark humor and twisted sexual desires that gives new meaning, on so many levels, to what might be defined as 'lurid'...in fact, character-wise, even akin to sticking a big toe into the wholly unsettling arena of 'mercilessly cruel' and 'psychotic' for the sake of this particular piece of over-the-top entertainment, thus justifying, though hardly descriptive here, the instigated film rating of NC-17, upon theatrical release...and yet, in a weird way, that's a good thing, here. Well...maybe 'good' is far too sickly sweet light-hearted a word; eh, let's just say shockingly 'acceptable'...
...but it's that unnerving sense of dark-humored, 'cruel and psychotic' luridness, which makes the film so damn captivating...the provocative story, so irresistibly compelling, and the scheming characters, so precariously alluring. With perhaps the exception of the child-like Dottie character, there's not a singularly nice person here...though that doesn't mean that there's nothing to like or appreciate, as far as this overall dysfunctional cast of characters. Matthew McConaughy headlines one of his best roles to date, herein...exuding a cool and manipulative aura of captivating, snake-like charm and rustically irresistible handsomeness, in his performance as 'Killer' Joe Cooper...a man of rather twisted desires, as well as unswerving and unchallenged intent...both of which one dares not deny him of, in stark fear of the retribution that would definitely follow. As ruthlessly reptilian, cool despicable and cunningly twisted as this character truly is, this is the kind of villain which we just love to get behind...that is, if he allows you to do so. In the motley crew of characters in this particular film, he is clearly the smartest man in the room, and yet...at least in his case...even the smartest man can sometimes underestimate, with great disbelief, the blatant stupidity of the people, whom he's dealing with...
...and without a doubt, 'stupid' is what these fine rustic folk, most assuredly
are. Heck, even the average layman movie viewer, let alone average person might well latch onto the underlining deviousness of the double-cross caper in effect; it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize, at a certain point, that the insurance money 'carrot' in these proceedings...payable upon the Adele character's death...is destined for something
other than what was told, or overheard. But that's how easily manipulated, a dim-witted character like Chris, as dumb hick-hokey played by actor Emile Hirsch, is portrayed. At some point, one might even wonder...even
believe that if Chris was told, out of the blue, that he could actually get his $50,000 by merely pissing on a spark plug, that he actually
would, without hesitation. Yes, folks...
that stupid; but at least, for the purpose of the storytelling and the character play herein, the stupidity is genuine
and believable...
...now, as equally, if not more dumb than Chris, the slacker parental role of Ansel...rendered here by Academy Award nominated actor Thomas Hayden Church...is at least well aware of the repercussions of what is going on here, or the invariable potential of not-so-good goings on, which might ensue; yes, he gives the outer demeanor of being dumber than a bag of hammers, but...depending upon the situation he finds himself in...he is at
least smart enough to know his place...knows whether or not to lie low, stay out of it, or just get the hell out. Also understandable, as far as level of stupidity, is the Dottie character...though, considering the character, the moniker of 'stupidity' might even be a bit harsh, in her case; actress Juno Temple affords the role such a dire sense of air-headed naivete and child-like innocence, despite her clearly exterior sexpot appearance, one almost can't help but feel sympathetic for her, yet at the same time, attracted to her. And as far as Sharla (Gina Gershon)...well, she's just dumb, by virtue of her own sense of self-interest; she thinks that she's clever...hiding behind a viperous and verbally acidic angst...but like a spell checker with the hiccups, she keeps missing integral points of her own intent, and as the result, winds up getting caught with her breeches...or in her case, her panties down. Which most assuredly happens here, to say the least...
...with this, as well as everything else, all deftly whipped up, prepared and served up in a deliciously decadent dish, just as tasty as the fried chicken, divvied up at the film's closing dinner table...as eclectic and revelational as it might be, "Killer Joe" is one helluva dark, dingy and rancid tongue-in-cheek, southern-fried, pulp-noir ride with some of the most embraceably devious and unlikable characters, set to celluloid. It's a caper, destined to fail, by virtue of an almost laughable level of witlessness, in a film clearly not an outright comedy...and it is set to us, the viewing audience, to shake our heads, roll our eyes, and chuckle at the dim-witted proceedings, laid out & unfolded before us. and in the case of this particular film,
that's a good thing...
...truth be known, if the unwary viewer carries away even the
slightest thing, upon the fade-to-black conclusion of "Killer Joe", there's at the very least, the most relevating concept of them all herein, in that...Hell, who the heck
knew that in the very heart of Texas itself, fried chicken and fellatio would have so much in common?? Go figure
that one, eh...
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