Killer Joe

Released theatrically with an NC-17 rating (edited to receive an “R” for DVD, but also featuring an “unrated director's cut” on Blu-ray), Killer Joe is all about hardcore human depravity, featuring disturbing content involving violence, sexuality, and brutality. When 22-year-old gambling, drug addict/dealer Chris Smith's (Emile Hirsch) slovenly mother steals his stash, he's left with a choice of coming up with money quickly or turning up dead. So Chris hatches a plan with his dimwitted father, Ansel (Thomas Haden Church)—who is now married to trashy Sharla (Gina Gershon)—to hire a hit man to whack mom and then collect the life-insurance money to cover the debt. That's where sinister, smooth-stalking Dallas cop “Killer” Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) swaggers in. The Smiths don't have cash for a down-payment, so Joe demands a retainer: the Smiths' virginal teenage daughter, Dottie (Juno Temple). After that, everything that can go wrong does. Before winning a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for August: Osage County, playwright Tracy Letts wrote this Southern Gothic black comedy, which he also adapted for the screen. Shamefully self-indulgent director William Friedkin relishes the overtly misogynistic, lewd scenes in which women are sadistically and violently degraded, with McConaughey delivering a laconic, snake-like performance that is truly repellent. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a SXSW film festival Q&A with the cast (40 min.), a “Southern Fried Hospitality: From Stage to Screen” making-of featurette (6 min.), a SXSW intro by director William Friedkin (4 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is an audio commentary by director William Friedkin. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an unpleasant film.] (S. Granger)