Joe (2013)

An ex-con, who is the unlikeliest of role models, meets a 15-year-old boy and is faced with the choice of redemption or ruin.

Director:

David Gordon Green

Writers:

Gary Hawkins, Larry Brown (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Tye Sheridan, Gary Poulter

4 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicolas Cage	...	Joe
Tye Sheridan	...	Gary
Gary Poulter	...	Wade a.k.a. G-Daawg
Ronnie Gene Blevins	...	Willie-Russell
Adriene Mishler	...	Connie
Brian Mays	...	Junior (as Brian D. Mays)
Aj Wilson McPhaul	...	Earl (as A.J. Wilson McPhaul)
Sue Rock	...	Merle
Heather Kafka	...	Lacy
Brenda Isaacs Booth	...	Mother (as Brenda Isaacs-Booth)
Anna Niemtschk	...	Dorothy
Elbert Hill III	...	Shorty (as Elbert Evan Hill III)
Milton Fountain	...	Milton
Roderick L. Polk	...	Roscoe
Aaron Spivey-Sorrells	...	Sammy

Storyline

In order to provide for his destitute family of drifters, a likable, sincere, able-bodied 15-year-old boy comes to hire on among a burned-out ex-con's group of aging forest laborers. As the man becomes more and more aware of the boy's abusive home life, his deeply buried humanity is roused. Drinking and smoking incessantly to remain detached from his volatile temper, he finally takes the matter into his own hands - come what may - when the boy's alcoholic father finally goes too far.

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Plot Keywords:

alcoholic | cigarette smoking | woods | father son relationship | teenage boy | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, disturbing material, language and some strong sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 April 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Джо

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$105,881, 13 April 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$373,375, 18 September 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

Worldview Entertainment, Dreambridge Films, Muskat Filmed Properties

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both Actors Nicolas Cage & Tye Sheridan have starred in Marvel Comics films. Nicolas Cage starred as Johnny Blaze / Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider & Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Tye Sheridan starred as Scott Summers / Cyclops in X-Men: Apocalypse.

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Goofs

When Gary takes off his vest by Joe's truck, his shirt pulls up and a microphone cable is visible going into his waistband.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gary: Hey, you old man, you look at me. I got som'in' to say to you. Every time we land someplace new, you say it's gonna be different, but it ain't. You mess up... a lot... then you leave a mess for me and Momma and Dorothy to clean up, and that ain't right. That's all I'm sayin'. Hell, I do what I gotta do. You do whatever the hell you want - whatever you can get away with. You're just a... selfish old drunk. Yeah, that's what you is. Yeah, this place is gonna be after us. Hell, ...
[...]

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Connections

References Inspector Gadget (1983)

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Soundtracks

You Knew Joe?
Written by Chris Hrasky, Michael James, Munaf Rayani and Mark T. Smith (as Mark Smith)
Performed by Explosions in the Sky

User Reviews

Dark, Brooding Portrait of Rural life in the American South

Joe was well-received in its American premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. David Gordon Green's film, based on Larry Brown's novel, was filmed locally in the Austin-area. The film is dark, brooding, intense and most of all depressing. The story about a local lumber foreman – Joe - who tries to rescue a 15-year-old drifter with an abusive alcoholic father is violent and disturbing and one knows from the start that there is no way for it to really end well. I found the film a little too dark and a little too slow as it moves to what seems like an inevitable bitter end. I think it could use some editing to speed the pace a bit. The acting by Nicholas Cage as the foreman and young Tye Sheridan – fresh off of his success in Mud alongside Matthew McConaughey – are excellent. In a way, it reverses the characters in Mud where Tye Sheridan's character is trying to rescue the older man; in Joe, the situation is the other way around. The film is hard to watch at times and difficult to call enjoyable, but the story is still powerful. It is difficult to imagine that such a dark film will attain much cinematic success. Green often casts locals in his film. In a sad, but perhaps appropriate corollary, the Green cast a local homeless man, Gary Poulter, to play the important role of the alcoholic father. Poulter died on the streets of Austin two months after the end of the filming. It is a powerful film, but I doubt I will ever want to watch it again.