| JOE (1970) |
| DIRECTED BY JOHN G. AVILDSON. STARRING PETER BOYLE, DENNIS PATRICK, SUSAN SARANDON, AND AUDREY CAIRE. |
| " Hippies.....Hippies.....they talk about saving the world, but all they do is sit around and smoke pot" - Eric Cartman South Park. |
| This is one of my favorite films of all time, and it paved the way for more popular angry loner movies like Taxi Driver, and Fight Club. It's about an upper class girl called Melissa ( an early role for Susan Sarandon), who's fallen in with the wrong crowd. She lives with her drug dealer boyfreind Frank, who keeps her doped up all the time. One day, he gives her some bad speed, and she goes nutzoid in a convenience store and ends up being hospitalised. Her rich parents aren't impressed, and her father Bill goes to her squat to collect her things. He runs into Frank there, and loses his temper, killing him in one of the most unconvincing fight scenes ever ( how many adults ever died from being shaken against a wall?). He takes Franks drugs to make it look like a gangland murder, and heads to the nearest bar for a stiff drink. |
| Here, in probably my favorite scene, we meet Joe Curran. Joe is spouting off an extended monologue to a weary eared bartender about his grievences against 'hippies, and niggers'. They wouldn't include a monologue like this in todays overly p.c. film industry. Bill goes to the bar, orders a drink, and listens to Joes rantings about how hippies have orgies ( Joe pronounces it oregy), and how he'd love to kill one of them. Bill replys "I just did" without thinking, shocking Joe. Joe sees a news story a few days later about Franks murder, puts two and two together, and forms an awkward freindship with Bill Compton which is partly based on blackmail, but mainly on Joes admiration for Bills deed. Compton gets a first-hand look at the way the working class live by going bowling with Joe, and having dinner at his house ( there's another great scene here when Joe shows Compton his gun collection). Joe in turn gets a look at how the well to do live by cruising upper crust bars with Compton, and finding out that the wealthy aren't as smart as he thought they were. Everything is going great until Melissa overhears Bill, and his wife Joan talking about how Compton killed him. She runs away, and Compton and Joe decide to infiltrate the hippie counterculture to find her, with hilarious, and violent results. |
| This movie is great. With the exception of Dennis Patricks wooden performance as Compton, all of the main roles , and supporting roles are pretty solid. Peter Boyle ( probably best known for his role in the t.v. show Everybody Loves Raymond) is excellent as the racist, hippy hating Joe Curran. When I first saw Cartman on South Park, I thought 'it's Joe as a kid!'. It's full of great characters, classic scenes, and classic lines. One great scene has Compton asking a hippie whether he's seen his daughter, and Joe really helps things by adding "why don't you get a haircut!". The theme song is also great. You'll find yourself singing it at work, because it's both funny, and catchy. I also think that Joe heavilly influenced screenwriter Paul Schrader. You can really see the similarities between Joe, and his films Taxi Driver, Blue Collar, and especially his movie Hardcore. The plot for Hardcore is strikingly similar to Joe , and Peter Boyle even plays a character who is a lot like Joe Curran. Joe is a forgotten classic from the greatest era of American filmmaking, the seventies. Like Easy Rider it is a great time capsule that depicts a non romantisised view of the late sixties, and early seventies. |
| Entertainment : 4 out of 4 |
| Watchability : 4 out of 4 |
| Overall : 4 out of 4 |
| Reviewed by Blake. |
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