Reel Review Roundup

End Of Watch (MA)

Directed by: David Ayer

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, Anna Kendrick, America Ferrera

Two and a half stars

Review by: Julian Wright

What happens when found footage and buddy cop films start to show signs of wear and tear? They get stitched together of course. Like any sewing enthusiast that wants to give their scraps of material a new life by piecing them together to make a new throw rug, End of Watch takes the two sub genres and runs them under a needle and thread. Hoping that this fresh but simple mash-up will disguise the overused and frayed story templates is not enough to justify its existence. Like that patched together throw rug, many that have seen it will soon forget it is there.

A sort-of day in the life of a LA cop, End of Watch is the story of young officers Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Pena) as they patrol the mean streets of southern Los Angeles. Our access to their work routine is through a video camera and a couple of clip-on lenses that Brian brings along for a film project he is working on. A quick throwaway explanation in the establishing minutes of the movie, but never fleshed out and only ever briefly mentioned later when he is told to turn the camera of by his superiors. But who ever demands logic and consistency in a movie, right?

The pair spend most of their time patrolling, talking about sex and relationships, having a laugh. We witness some mundane house checks that lead to gruesome discoveries and a couple of car chases. Not only do we have access to their work lives, but also their personal lives as Brian’s cameras are switched on at home to capture his girlfriend Janet (Anna Kendrick) and is taken to Mike’s wedding, where he marries his sweetheart Gabby (Natalie Martinez) and the birth of their child. But when they pull over a member of a drug cartel for hanging a CD on his rear vision mirror, they find an abundance of drugs and guns, which gets the attention of the gang that owns them. Luckily that gang is also recording their exploits, so we know that they have targeted our heroes.

End of Watch wants to educate us that policing is tough work, the LA ghetto is a dangerous hell hole and having a family raises the stakes. But we already know, we have been told all of this before. There is little here to justify the found footage set up, other than to put a novel spin on some ordinary buddy cop plotting. But even the found footage technique is constantly betrayed, with shots seemingly coming from cameras or recording devices that no one in the film is carrying.

Punctuated with some tense sequences and graphic imagery, these work on the beat vignettes are mostly boring, driven by alarmingly dull conversations and unimaginative plotting. The chemistry between Gyllenhaal and Pena is the highlight; their bright screen presence makes up for their repetitive dialogue. This stitched together film is barely a patch on other, better cop and found footage films.

Pitch Perfect (M)

Directed by: Jason Moore

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson

Three and a half stars

Review by: Julian Wright

Cast your mind back to when you saw last year’s surprise oestrogen fueled hit Bridesmaids. One of the things that made it a hit was the exceptional ensemble cast. Saturday Night Live regulars Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph scored big laughs and Rose Byrne showed us that her comic timing in Get Him To the Greek was not a one-off, but it was a brash Melissa McCarthy that stole the show. But her biggest competition was the unknown Rebel Wilson as the room-mate from hell with only five minutes of screen time. She made such an impact that she threatened to steal the limelight from the main players with her dopey and disgusting behaviour.

Folks, Wilson has done it again. She is the one that shines in a cast if several of her peers. While this time she is given a larger role in a film that has a lesser script, she has cemented herself as a comedic talent to keep an eye on. The female ensemble Pitch Perfect – which takes marketing cues from Bridesmaids (just compare the posters) is a poor imitation of its predecessor but if the words “Bring It On meets Sister Act” gets you excited, then you are in for an a capella treat with this one.

After losing the majority of their crew from the embarrassment of a competition mishap, the two remaining members of a capella group The Bellas, Aubrey (Anna Camp) and Chloe (Brittany Snow) are on the hunt for some fresh faces and voices. Enter introvert Beca (Anna Kendrick) a wannabe DJ with a chip on her shoulder. She signs up after her Dad tells her he wont financially support her if she doesn’t get into the college spirit and make some friends.

Along with a new rag-tag team of singers, including rough around the edges Fat Amy (scene hijacker Rebel Wilson), the group go about getting back into the competition circuit, only with dull, outdated music that Aubrey refuses to change. With a keen ear for hip tunes and how to mix them, Beca is eager to inject some freshness into the group and competition, but Aubrey wont back down. Meanwhile, the group takes a pounding in each competition and ridicule from their peers.

This easy, breezy, appealing chick flick serves up some great moments, but falls a little short of being a completely satisfying experience. While the cast is a watchable bunch, Wilson gets to punctuate every scene she is in with her zingers and her self-deprecating humour is a winning ingredient. Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins deliver some comedic gold as the competition commentators. Oscar nominee Kendrick seems to be slumming it in the “straight” role.

There are some fun musical numbers that overshadow expired gags (in our increasingly accepting society, the ongoing is-she-or-isn’t-she a lesbian joke feels way outdated), overused gags (self consciously hip dialogue that tacks “aca” to the front of almost every word grates on the nerves) and plot lulls (of course there is a gooey love story). And there is even some gross out stuff for good measure. It is the kind of fluff that probably would not have been made if TV’s Glee wasn’t so popular, but it is an enjoyable diversion.

Pitch Perfect opens in Australian cinemas on December 6.

The Sessions (MA)

Directed by: Ben Lewin

Starring: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood

Four and a half stars

Review by: Julian Wright

It is a sensitive topic. No one really talks about it. It is kind of swept under the rug. But it has probably crossed your mind once or twice. How do disabled people have sex? For some able-bodied people, sex can be easy, constant and taken for granted. But what about those who are wheelchair bound, or with disabilities who can sometimes be ostracized by society? Surely they still have sexual feelings and needs too that go unrecognised and unfulfilled.

That pesky rug has been ripped up and the topic tackled head on but in a sensitive manner in The Sessions, which explores the sexual longing of a man gurney-bound with polio. It is based on the experiences of journalist and poet Mark O’Brien who was struck with polio and hired a sex surrogate to help him lose his virginity in this 30s. While the plot sticks fairly closely to Mark’s real life experiences, what is impressive is the attention to character detail and the strikingly liberated attitude towards sex.

Mark (John Hawkes) is a charming and funny fellow who has lived with polio since childhood and in a horizontal existence in either his iron lung to help him breath or a gurney for trips outside his home. His muscles don’t work so good – well, except one muscle in particular. Like every other hot-blooded male, Mark has sexual urges but his condition means he cannot get close to women and he cannot masturbate. Racked with the thought of his impending death (he is lucky to have lived until his 30s), he begins to take steps to lose his virginity.

His nerves are at an all time high but he hires sex therapist Cheryl (Helen hunt) who specialises in helping disabled people. The wife and mother takes on the job like it is any other, and the two book in eight sessions in which they will work their way from the simple things like undressing and kissing in the early sessions to penetrative sex and orgasm in the final ones. But Cheryl, a complete professional, is not prepared for how attached Mark becomes and how much she comes to enjoy his company.

This incredibly open-minded, non judgmental, and often charmingly hilarious journey, is a pure joy. While sharing some minor similarities to French hit The Intouchables, this is less of  a feel good look at physically disabled people but nevertheless portrays them as human and gives them more deserved screen time.  The sessions that the title refers to are explicit and many may feel uneasy witnessing them (we do get to see a majority of the eight), but their frank approach to the topic is admirable. They boldly delve into this situation without any qualms. We see the arc of each session, the awkwardness, the humour, the sexual developments. Shying away from these sessions or toning them down to pander to an audience’s comfort level could have compromised its message. They are more than a couple of naked bodies, they are a celebration of human sexuality and the human form. But we also see this complex relationship develop.

The cast is brave and outstanding. Even with Hawkes physically restrained, he comes to life and leaps out of that iron lung and off of the screen in a performance that should be recognised at awards ceremonies. Not only does he make us believe the heartache of Mark’s plight but brings nuance and gives us many chuckles with his cheeky sense of humour. He is matched by Hunt, who has made few appearances on screen recently but has made a triumphant return to bare all physically and emotionally. Only the dramatically soggy ending lets this down. After watching such powerful performances and having some provocative themes and ideas brought to our attention, the ending, curiously, leaves us somewhat unfulfilled when we should really be sobbing relentlessly into our hankies.

The Strangers (MA)

Directed by: Bryan Bertino

Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward

Three and a half stars

Review by Julian Wright

It is hard to believe that The Strangers is Bryan Bertino’s debut as a feature film director. The movie has a thin plot and could have been a boring mess of cheap scares and excessive blood spilling. But he has a confidence in his directorial decisions and builds tension and suspense with a sure hand. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bertino had watched every thriller in the past decade and took notes on formula horror scenes before he penned this film. This film owes a lot to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Panic Room, Halloween and countless other slasher films.

Apparently inspired by a true story (we have heard that one before), The Strangers is about a young couple – James Hoyt (Scott Speedman) and Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler) – who were terrorised in the early hours of February 11, 2005. They return home to the Hoyt family cabin after attending a friend’s wedding. The evening did not turn out as James had planned, as his proposal to Kristen was rejected.

When they return to the cabin that James has sprinkled with rose petals and lit with candles, things are awkward. But the terror begins around 4am when the pair hear a knock at the door. A mysterious young girl stands in the shadows asking for her friend, who clearly does not live there. After she leaves, James decides to go for a drive so he can get some distance from Kristen to clear his head.

But while he is away, there is more banging on the door and then someone begins to shift items around in the house while Kristen is not looking. Kristen gets freaked out, and who can blame her, so she calls James back. When he arrives there is no sign of a disturbance and he thinks she is overreacting. But when the strangers disable his car it is clear somebody doesn’t want them to leave. What follows is about an hour of white-knuckle suspense in which the strangers torment and terrorise the couple.

The inspired-by-true-events routine has been done to death, whether it be true, or a clever marketing ploy like in the case of The Blair Witch Project. The wobbly hand-held camera work in the early scenes, before the strangers arrive, tries to capture a domestic realism, but it is distracting in these quiet scenes. The characters are thin and the plot is thinner, and after a while it doesn’t make much sense. But what this is, is an exercise in keeping the audience in a state of sweat-inducing fear, and it succeeds. Bertino skilfully frames his scenes so that you are forced to tear your eyes away from Tyler’s gorgeous soft features to scan the edges of the frame for lurking terror.

Some may feel cheated that the tormentors are not given names or motivation. But then again, this movie is called The Strangers, not The Three Dimensional, Well Rounded Serial Killers.

As appeared in Examiner Newspapers, 2008.

To Rome With Love (M)

Directed by: Woody Allen

Starring: Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Ellen Page, Roberto Benigni, Jesse Eisenberg, Alec Baldwin

Three stars

Review by: Julian Wright

Hey guys, it’s ok to cheat on your partner, Woody Allen says so.  Not only that, he thinks it’s funny. Oh, and try to do  it in Rome if you can, it is much more romantic that way. This troubling stance on infidelity from a man with his own spotty history undermines what is otherwise an easily digestible, perfectly charming outing that takes a look at several relationships that unravel in Rome, dripping with Allen’s trademark affection for European cities.

In possibly his most ambitious move in his long career, he attempts to meld into the twisted relationship-y hijinks some amusing digs at celebrity and our absurd and unwarranted obsession with those in the spotlight. While it is clear that the two separate issues are awkward side by side in the same film, the celebrity mocking comes off as some of the more entertaining aspects.

Phyllis (Judy Davis) and Jerry (Woody Allen) fly to Rome to visit their daughter Hayley (Alison Pill) who is engaged to Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti) after a whirlwind romance. Jerry, a frustrated, retired opera director with an eye for the unusual, hears Michelangelo’s father Giancarlo (Fabio Armiliato) singing in the shower and pounces on the opportunity to help launch him a singing career and relaunch his own career. The only problems are Giancarlo’s disapproving family and the fact he only sings well in the shower.

Jack (Jessie Eisenberg) and Sally (Greta Gerwig) take in overtly sexual friend Monica (Ellen Page) who is on vacation after recently busting up with her boyfriend. Jack is attracted to Monica and flirts with the idea of having a fling with her, all the while imaginary (or maybe not) John (Alec Baldwin) tries desperately to dissuade him.

Newlyweds Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) and Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) arrive from out-of-town but are separated and Milly gets lost in the labyrinthine streets. She stumbles upon a film set and fights off urges to sleep with famous actor Luca Salta (Antonio Albanese). Meanwhile, prostitute Anna (Penelope Cruz) is mistakenly sent to Antonio’s hotel room for some nookie and is passed off as Milly to his upper crust family.

And middle-aged family man Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni) wakes up one day to instant fame – for no particular reason – and finds the press and his new-found fans are clambering to know what he ate for breakfast and whether he shaves before or after his meal. He, too, succumbs to the temptation of young hot things throwing themselves at him. He subsequently must also deal with no longer being the flavour of the month.

The scenery is attractive and the cast is delightful but one can’t help but feel Allen is trying to pull the wool over our eyes by sugar-coating so much bad behaviour. Extramarital affairs are romanticised and treated as a source for a few light-hearted laughs. Monica refuses to sleep with Jack in her best friend’s house. But the car is ok. Ba-doom-tish. Likewise married Milly’s rationalisation for her affair with a superstar: “better to sleep with a celebrity and regret it than not sleep with him and regret it.”

The misplaced humour is nowhere near as distasteful as when P.J. Hogan tried to draw laughs from a date rape anecdote in Mental, and it may fly over the heads of most audience members. But take a step back and the act of sugar-coating this unacceptable behaviour is often offensive. Without any consequence to all the cheating, and sweetening the deal with a few postcard shots of Rome, Allen is sending a dangerous message. On the other hand, Allen’s own story thread gets progressively wacky as his character tries anything to get his new client world-wide fame, and except for Leopoldo’s sexual indiscretions, his story is also fun to watch unfold. It’s just too bad the championed bed-hopping leaves a sour taste.

Taken 2 (M)

Directed by: Olivier Megaton

Starring: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace

Three stars

Review by: Julian Wright

The Expendables 2, Bait 3D and Taken 2. It has been a cracker year for so-bad-they’re-good films. It can be hotly debated whether or not these cringe-worthy films are deliberately wretched for the sake of a few laughs. Are the scriptwriters, directors and actors aware that the story and dialogue are so laughably illogical but power through it regardless? Or did they actually think that they were delivering some genuine drama?

It is likely those behind The Expendables 2 had their tongues firmly in their cheeks with the wall to wall action, body parts flying and cheesy one liners. It comes off as a spoof of itself and every other muscle-bound action flick since the 1980s. It would be more at home in the comedy section of your local DVD library. Bait 3D on the other hand, is a little more difficult to tell. Whether or not the laughs are on purpose, how can you hate something that has you in stitches and tears from laughing so hard?

Taken‘s (2008) gritty, no-nonsense approach to a B-grade plot, Liam Neeson’s impressive physicality (the dude is 60!) and commitment made it a surprise hit, but it would appear lightning could not be captured a second time. Eschewing genuine tension for over edited action sequences, emotion for lame dialogue and logic for “cool” sequences, Taken 2 is a pale imitation of it’s not even that great predecessor. One thing Taken 2 does have that the original does not is the unintentional (or is it intentional?) howlers.

Don’t you hate it when the family of a guy you killed while trying to get back your kidnapped daughter from sex traffickers seeks revenge? And it is always at the most inconvenient time. After retired CIA agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) killed countless evil doers to get back his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) from a sex traffic ring, life has seemingly gone back to normal. Kim is readjusting to life after her ordeal – she is trying to get her driver’s license and also has a new boyfriend. But Bryan is still overprotective. He invites Kim and his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) on a holiday in Istanbul and they oblige. Before we are reminded why they divorced in the first place – they are extremely chummy and touchy feely here – Bryan and Lenore are snatched by goons hired by Murad Krasniqi (Rade Serbedzija) who is mourning the death of his son in the first film. Clearly he is not aware of Bryan’s capabilities.

Before you can say “what the…?” Kim is running around Istanbul with her Dad on the phone instructing her to detonate grenades around town and playing rally car getaway driver to get her parents to safety. But dealing with terrorists is nothing compared to what Bryan will have to contend with when they get home – Kim’s new boyfriend. Insert eye roll here.

How can you take any of this seriously? It might seem nitpicky, but even the smallest, most basic things don’t make sense – the ladies ooh and aah at the standard hotel accommodation, but moments before we are treated to the lush interior of their Hollywood mansion.  At least it provides giggles. If you can’t get on board with the disappointing, toned down, lacklustre action, you can still have plenty of laughs at the audaciousness of the illogical plot points and horrible dialogue. Pretty much the only thing this film gets right is being consistently bad. You can have a bit of fun with this. I just hope the filmmakers know we are laughing at them, not with them.

Arbitrage (M)

Directed by: Nicholas Jarecki

Starring: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling

Four stars

Review by: Julian Wright

It can be fascinating to watch how people react under pressure. There is some voyeuristic value in seeing them squirm but also a guide for us to learn how not to react in certain situations. Some of those placed under a crushing load step up to the plate and deliver the goods while others crumble into a sobbing mess. I’m a ball of nerves making sure this sentence is grammatically correct. Admittedly, my personal battles are nowhere near the severity of those of Richard Gere’s character who finds himself in quite a predicament in Arbitrage.

New York billionaire businessman Robert Miller (Richard Gere) seems to have it all – a loving family, successful business, all the things money can buy and, well, all the money, really. Alas, as they say, do not judge a book by its cover. His business is going under, his desperate attempts to save it are not working out, a mate he borrowed a large sum of money from is ready to collect and his mistress Julie (Laetitia Casta) is upset that between his family and work duties, he doesn’t have time for her.

Robert’s spiraling life spins way out of control when, during a late-night drive with Julie, the exhausted fellow crashes the car and his girlfriend dies. Fearing his family will find out, the scandal with will go public and therefore pending business deals jeopardized, Robert flees the scene. But as he soon realises that no matter how hard he tries to cover up his involvement in the accident, there is around 50 things he hasn’t thought of and before he knows it, the cops come knocking on his door.

This morally corrupt, self-destructive, slimy businessman is not exactly the type of person you would want for a best friend. The characterisation is unflinching and Gere is fearless in portraying someone so reprehensible. But it is Gere’s natural charisma that takes some of the edge off and we find ourselves hoping he isn’t caught – something that may leave audiences questioning later. This level of audience involvement is what boosts this slow burn thriller.

Singling out Gere’s natural charisma is not to say he cruises through this film based on his good looks and charm. He delivers possibly a career-best performance as a desperate man trying to save his own skin and, as the story progresses, we learn what lengths he will go to to make sure it happens, whether or not his family is hurt in the process. Gere relishes the chance to sink his teeth into such a complex character, something he has so few chances to do at this point in his career.

Teaming Gere with Susan Sarandon as his wife seems like a great idea at first but when the pair are called on later in the film to tackle some dramatic moments together, they clearly struggle. The responsibility does not completely fall on their shoulders as it is in the final third that this script fumbles, slightly letting down what has, up until this point, been a crackling thriller. What saves these shaky final minutes is the chilling ending. At the very least you will come out of this film grateful that your life isn’t as messed up as this bloke’s and maybe you won’t sweat the small stuff anymore, but at the most you will have seen a cracker of a film.

On The Road

Directed by: Walter Salles

Starring: Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst

Two and a half stars

Review by: Julian Wright

Jack Kerouac’s semi-autobiographical novel On The Road, hailed as a literary classic, had a long and bumpy trip to the big screen. Since the book was published in the 1950’s, several attempts have been made to bring it to life, with many pesky pit stops along the way causing delays. Not surprisingly, really. It can be a tricky job to adapt a book into a film. And for this iconic piece, one can assume that the film makers wanted to get it right. It almost seems a shame that this version we finally get to see fails to leave other films in its dust.

Aspiring author Sal (Sam Riley) floats around with his best mate the free-spirited Dean (Garrett Hedlund), driving cross-country, smoking weed, getting drunk and hooking up with chicks in the late 1940’s. Their journey is a tumultuous one. The charming Dean draws people from all walks of life, many of whom are left broken after having encountered him. This film chronicles their time on the road with a handful of friends, acquaintances and lovers as  they beg, borrow and plead for cash, alcohol and their next hit of drugs.

We observe Dean’s erratic behaviour through Sal’s eyes but we don’t get a glimpse of what makes him tick. Access to Sal is also neglected. We see Dean’s allure but why does Sal hang around? They seem like such an odd couple. Living these experiences vicariously through these characters is a trip in of itself but with so little substance, it quickly becomes dull. Experiences eventually begin to blur into each other.

The star-studded cast works hard, Amy Adams does loopy, Kirsten Dunst does heart-broken and Kristen Stewart does nudity. But it is Hedlund’s hypnotic performance that drives this film, albeit in first gear. The pacing is what really lets this outing down. After a promising start, it just plateaus, chugging along from one life experience to the next, most of which share the same consequences and ramifications. This road trip could only be compared to a trip across the Nullabor – long and incredibly dull and ultimately winds up getting stuck in a roundabout.

Room 237

Directed by: Rodney Ascher

Starring: Bill Blakemore, Buffy Visick, Geoffrey Cocks

Three and a half stars

Review by: Julian Wright

Show a film to five different people and you will get five different interpretations of what it is about. Half the fun of watching films, particularly with friends, is discussing what everyone takes away from it. The imagery in some films have far deeper meanings and purpose than others – go back and re-watch the opening of Melancholia and it makes more sense the second time. Heck, Holy Motors has sparked interesting discussions over what that strange piece of cinema is all about.

Of course these debated images usually serve the story the film is telling. However, there are some people who take it just that little bit further – finding subliminal messages and codes that go above and beyond the movie itself that ordinary film goers would probably never pick up on. Such is the subject of this fascinating documentary about some theories that surround The Shining. You wont look at the story of the Overlook Hotel or its off-season inhabitants again the same after seeing this doco.

Opening our eyes to another way of looking at Stanley Kubrick’s much-loved and renowned version of Stephen King’s novel is a handful of theorists that run us through what they think are the real meanings behind such things as pieces of set design, the layout of the hotel, body language, the number of cars parked outside the hotel. You name it, these people have found a hidden meaning for it. So passionate was man’s search for alternate meanings that he ran a copy of the film forward and another in reverse for funsies, overlapping the images – cue more kooky observations about how the images line up and what it all means.

The most fascinating thing is the sincerity in which these people, who have created hotel floor plan maps based simply on what they see in the film, explain their observations. It is easy to dismiss these people as crazy folk with far too much time on their hands – especially when the film is claimed to be proof of Kubrick’s involvement in the Moon landing “hoax” but what it does is celebrate the dissection of film – something we all do, albeit not usually to this extreme.

Keeping these theorists out of sight creates a barrier between the film and the audience – although it does add to the strange conspiracy theme of it all. At times blandly presented, this hangs on the stories that come from the voice overs, which do make for amusing yarns. But even if you do tire of these silly stories (the file on the office desk looks like an erect penis?!), one can still admire the sublime shots Kubrick assembled for The Shining, which we get to revisit here over and over.

Room 237 screened as part of the 2012 Melbourne International Film Festival.

Killer Joe

Directed by: William Friedkin

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Thomas Haden Church, Emile Hirsche, Gina Gershon,

Four stars

Review by: Julian Wright

Want to spend around two hours with some sleazy, sweaty, loathsome, morally corrupt trailer trash? Wait, that’s not really the way to get someone’s attention to go and see Killer Joe. That list of adjectives would tend to drive people away instead of drawing them in. While William Friedkin’s black comedy, based on the play of the same name, is about such a group of such people, there is more to it than that.

Granted, you will need a dark and twisted sense of humour (like me – whoops have I given too much away here?) to enjoy the black as coal laughs here as people are threatened, beaten, abused, betrayed, manipulated and violently killed. This probably won’t sound like much of a good time to some people, heck most people, but this down and dirty Texan spin on the film noir genre is a blood spattered hoot.

Desperate times call for desperate measures for one trailer park family. When Chris (Emile Hirsch), who is up to his neck in debt, gets wind of the dollar worth of his estranged mother’s life insurance, he seeks to have her bumped off. We are not talking a million dollars here, or even half of that. This brat wants to off her for a measly $50,000 – half of which will go as payment to the guy that kills her – Joe (Matthew McConaughey, in an eye-opening, slow burn performance).

Chris even recruits his lazy, half-wit father Ansel (Thomas Haden Church in fine form) and his child-like and virginal sister Dottie (Juno Temple) to set the plan into motion. Their trashy step-mother Sharla’s (Gina Gershon – who deserves a bravery award) involvement becomes more complicated as it goes along. Said plan doesn’t run as smoothly as these uneducated twits hoped, which tests Joe’s patience, although his fury is always simmering beneath the surface. However, he does take an unsettling liking to Dottie.

Actually, this doesn’t sound very funny so you will just have to see it to get it. And while the humour and violence has been alluded to in this review, what hasn’t yet is the white knuckle tension that exists the entire running time of this 102 minute film. Right from the beginning, Friedkin puts us on edge and has us relentlessly teeter there. While his abilities as a film maker to do this are already unquestionable – hello The Exorcist and Bug – he surprises us by skillfully weaving the dark humour in amongst it. Even at 77 years old, Friedkin is still unafraid to tackle the controversial. There are some splendidly confronting moments in this film that have caused quite a stir that aren’t as graphically outrageous as crucifix masturbation but will still trouble you. Anyone who can handle that is in for a treat.

Killer Joe screened as part of the 2012 Melbourne International Film Festival.