J_Trex

This was an interesting drama about the bootlegging culture of Franklin County, VA circa 1932. It was compelling the way bootlegging moonshine was such a mainstream activity in that area. Nearly everybody with the means and the desire could run a still. Sell the stuff to the local mobsters, who trucked it into the market place.

It was also an interesting contrast between good and evil. The bootleggers were the good guys. The G-man was the epitome of evil.

The main star was Shia LeBeouf as the narrator, the youngest brother of the Bondurant clan, longtime residents of the area who turned to bootlegging during prohibition. He basically helped out his older brothers, tending to the bootlegging business, working the production and distribution of the moonshine. His older brothers were played by Tom Hardy (Forris Bondurant), the muscle of the family, and Jason Clarke (Howard Bondurant). Hardy and Clarke are both British, but you could never tell from their accents.

Guy Pearce played the wicked and no good G-man, out to get his fair share of the loot, rather that protect citizens from the evils of liquor.

Maybe in some backhanded sort of way, this movie is a call to legalize drugs. The laws do far more damage and corruption to society than the product.

I really like this movie. As excellent film noir thrillers go, with a good streak of black comedy, this movie rivalled "Double Indemnity". I suspect the reason for the delay may have been the producers tying themselves into knots to avoid the dreaded NC-17 rating. Could they have cut out some of the more violent scenes that were sex related? Probably so. Would the movie have been as good? Probably not. Anyway, the cast was perfect. Matthew McConaughey was great as the title character "Killer Joe", a rogue Texas lawman who works on the side as a contract killer. Emile Hirsh plays the hapless Chris, who owed some local drug dealers a lot of cash. His plan was to hire "Killer Joe" to commit murder to help him get out. He had plenty of help from family members, some of whom were working different angles. Thomas Haden Church was really excellent as Chris's father. Gina Gershon was wickedly great as his step-mom. It was all very clever and never was slow.

If you like some of David Lynch's better work ("Wild at Heart", or "Blue Velvet", you'll like this move.

Mark Wahlberg keeps up to as the brother and aspiring boxer. Amy Adams was great as Mark's girlfriend, and the entire supporting cast was pitch perfect. How did they ever cast the family? One gets the impression they were real life & not actors. The mother and her brood of harpie daughters were the roughest bunch of females ever to appear in a movie that wasn't science fiction. You could definitely see how they were cut from the same mold as Bale's character but Wahlberg's character seemed too decent to be from that group of people.

You wonder who gets the nod for best actor in this film. Wahlberg or Bale? Bale's character might seem to be confined to a supporting actor nod but Bale made the film a great one and if it wins best picture (which seems like a good bet), Bale would seem to be inline to get most of the credit.

Anyway, a great picture, not to be missed. Quite possibly one of the best boxing films ever made. And Bale's performance was one for the ages.