Killer Joe
Dir: William Friedkin
2012
****
For a long time many cinema fans have been suggesting that Matthew McConaughey, an actor with real talent, needed to give up on the awful rom-coms and go back to serious acting. He's picked a hell of a film to come back with and hats off to him for that. Okay, so The Lincoln Lawyer came first, and he was great in it but Killer Joe is McConaughey back with vengeance, the rom-coms are over with, he might as well have throttled them on screen. Killer Joe is the visual equivalent of poking an angry dog with a stick. It provokes to uncomfortable levels that leave the viewer tense and excited, if not a little disgusted. It's been a while since I've seen a film like this that does exactly what it sets out to do so unashamedly and effectively. William Friedkin is brilliant at his job. It's unsettling but brilliant, it's great to see McConaughey acting again, it's nice to see Gina Gershon naked again (sorry, couldn't resist) but after this film I'm not sure I'm going to be eating fried Chicken again. Highly recommended but not for the fainthearted. The soundtrack is also brilliant.