User reviews

This is a by the numbers romantic comedy, which obviously has borrowed heavily from a lot of successful movies in terms of the storyline (terminal condition, bad girl/good guy, mob subplot, well hello). Although not original, it's not boring. It would though be just another movie if not for Bill Connolly and Sharon Stone. They deliver mature, convincing performances and genuinely succeed at creating empathy for their characters. Especially Sharon Stone's charm and natural beauty is unparalleled. You really could fall for her even if she was the worst person on earth.

So not a masterpiece, but not disappointing either.

I passed over Beautiful Joe at the video store for more than a year as I went through titles of non-first run films that I had not watched. After a year, I grabbed this one off the shelf and was pleasantly surprised by it. I thoroughly enjoyed the warmth that Billy Connolly gave his "beautiful" Joe character in his "adventures" with Sharon Stone and her two children. He seemed to genuinely enjoy the kids. Stone's "Hush" character kept the film consistent and on track. I enjoyed her sex appeal in her youth. I now appreciate the depth she brings to the roles she's been playing as a mature woman. I also liked how the director and screenwriter didn't bury Jurnee Smollett or Dillon Moen, Stone's two children, in the script. They had a closeness about them that made them feel like real brothers and sisters. Not a bad film. It's one I'd watch again.

Due to a special affection for Scottish comedy legend Billy Connolly, I saw Beautiful Joe. I love low budget film and I love a good heart tugging story. Connolly's Joe is a charming character that one can't help but like from the films opening. A Scot playing an Irishman amused me, particularly that the extent of his Irish accent was to say "Tanks" instead of "Thanks", but Connolly's charm sees this of little annoyance. Sharon Stone, who I normally don't care for, hits all the right notes in a very good performance as the tough as nails barhopping single mother. The two leads play off each other wonderfully without being drawn into the sentimentality of the piece. The two child actors are also first rate, particularly in their scenes with Connolly. Ian Holm, Dan Florek and Gil Bellows provide some lovely touches in their small roles. The problem? The script is quite predictable and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put it together. The unforgivable aspect however, is the constant view of the boom microphone in the shot. This doesn't happen just once, it happens several times and so obtrusively that it detracts from the viewers ability to get stuck into and believe the film (at least with this viewer it did). That aspect tainted the film badly, which is a shame because the work of Connolly and Stone is truly first rate. Visible boom microphone aside, Beautiful Joe is well worth seeing as a nice feel good film with some top notch acting.

"Beautiful Joe" tells of an irrepressible and likeable Irish florist who learns he has a brain tumor and decides to take a last blast road trip before his possibly fatal surgery. He falls in with and falls in love with a gambling woman with a checkered past and some troublesome underworld connections. With all the ear marks of a low budget indie, "BJ" moves from one sentimental moment to another with enough heart to make its journeyman execution easy to overlook. A fun but raggedy little romantic comedy which is as easy to like as it is to criticize. (C+)

A cute little film. I'm not familiar with this Billy Connolly, so I don't know if he really has that Irish brogue, or if he acted it. It was good, anyway. Sharon Stone continues to prove her acting range with a dramatic role (also with an accent). I had never heard of this film when it came on cable, but it was sweet. Worth catching the next time it comes on.

Low-budget film written and directed by Stephen Metcalfe, a first time director but previous screenwriter. Billy Connolly and Sharon Stone share the lead roles in this romantic comedy. Connolly plays Joe- a decent guy who has a brain tumor, who meets Hush (Sharon Stone) who is on the run from nasty thugs (Gil Bellows and Ian Holm). Joe eventually bonds with Hush's family, and the eventual romance occurs.

This is an okay film but is tedious in parts, and Connolly and Stone lack chemistry! It had its moments, but not enough to make this a memorable film, or a particular good one either. Although, its not that bad either considering the obvious low-budget. As a big fan of both Billy Connolly and Sharon Stone, I was a little disappointed with 'Beautiful Joe'.

**1/2 out of *****!

This movie is very good. I will categorize it as a drama-comedy. Sharon Stone's southern accent is annoying at first but then I got use to it. There are some things that could have been better but this much better than lots of wide release movies. I recommend it.

This could be the right movie for the right people at the right time but I have a big big problem with the title. "Beautiful Joe" is a famous child's story about a dog and to use that for the title of this movie epitomizes the worst of present day Hollywood which is that they have no respect for the audience. The lead role could have been a Jerry or a Walt or anybody else and the title would have worked even better for this movie. But since we know the two groups of people in this country most cut off from reality are always those in Washington and those in Hollywood, we get "Beautiful Joe".

This movie would be just the thing for a middle aged or older couple on a date or romantic evening at home. I bought the VHS tape at a yardsale for a quarter; it is represented as a dark comedy perhaps similar to Get Shorty or A Fish Called Wanda. That is only in their dreams as it really is not funny beyond the most basic of stock gags. In fact from what I watched, about a third of the entire movie, it is really nothing but tired stock bits strung together. E.g. mugger attacks couple but woman kicks his butt, man goes home with sexy woman but ends up buying food for kids instead. Safe proved techniques, all very boring to me.

Sharon Stone's character is your slightly aging, could stand to lose just a few pounds but still hot Miami or Catskills resort gold-digger type. She doesn't do badly but she doesn't do enough. If this is to be a sexy funny movie, she could have been a bit sexier and a bit funnier. In general the film works harder not to be sexy, than to be sexy; and not to be funny, than to be funny.

As a date movie or a chick flick for the right people, this movie could do just fine. I don't expect that single men or any younger viewers would find much in it.

I use subtitles due to bad audio & hearing. These don't even match the dialog. Add to that the stellar acting. And it was a bust.

I have to add more verbage in order satisfy the guide lines.

definitely not what i expected from the trailer. it was so much better, i'm not a sharon stone fan- however she was really good in this film. i'd pick it up if i were you. billy connelly was really fabulous. and together as a pair on the screen they were great.

This had potential, but the script ran out of ideas after 10 minutes and became obvious and completely predictable. Billy Connolly is held back and allowed to show only a few glimpses of his great comedy and acting talent, while Sharon Stone goes way over the top as she tries to compensate.

A poor film all-round, where deus-ex-machina rules.

Though likable in many ways, `Beautiful Joe' is one of those maddeningly inconsistent movies in which the plot keeps getting in the way of the finer elements of the picture. Here we have a film that is far more effective in its moments of quiet contemplation than the moments in which it indulges in grand melodramatic gestures. The latter do not happen frequently enough to actually kill the picture, but you can't accuse them of not trying.

Writer/director Stephen Metcalfe has concocted a screenplay that is part romantic comedy, part `road movie' and part petty gangster picture. The mixture never really jells. The film focuses around a sweet, good-natured, hopelessly optimistic Irish immigrant so beloved in his heavily ethnic Bronx neighborhood that his neighbors have affectionately nicknamed him `Beautiful Joe.' One day Joe is informed by his doctor that he has a potentially life threatening brain tumor. Conveniently for purposes of the plot, Joe also happens to discover on that day (though everyone else seems to have long known it) that his slatternly wife has been cheating on him. This frees him up to load his van and set out in search of the adventure he never really experienced in his peaceful but humdrum existence. While in Kentucky, he meets `Hush' Mason, a down-on-her-luck gambler and exotic dancer with two children who also happens to be involved with a parcel of petty gangsters led by one `George the Geek' whose sadism emerges in his various dealings with Joe, Hush, her children and his own loyal henchmen.

`Beautiful Joe' is at its best when it concentrates on the quiet moments that occur between these two oddball people – one a rock of stability, sanity and virtue in a cruel, chaotic world and the other a mess of insecurities, weaknesses and vulnerabilities who needs someone like Joe to help pull her out of that world. When Sharon Stone and Billy Connolly share screen time together (along with Jurnee Smollett and Dillon Moen who play her children), the film is believable and touching. However, Metcalfe seems unwilling to leave well enough alone because he has injected into the film a truly awful subplot involving a group of bumbling gangsters who manage to bring the film crashing down every time they appear in a scene. Luckily for us and for the film, they disappear through long stretches of the movie's running time, allowing time for us to concentrate on the individuals at the story's core. Even here, however, some of the plot details seem unnecessarily hokey and distracting, such as Hush's son's refusal to talk being overcome at the last minute – an obvious device to squeeze as many tears out of the audience as is legally possible. Indeed, the whole final act overindulges itself on syrupy sentiment.

Connolly and Stone are both excellent in their roles, Connolly appearing strong, compassionate and virtuous all at the same time, while Stone displays just the right amount of feistiness and vulnerability to make her character ring true and likable.

A pity Metcalfe doesn't display the discipline of tone and plotting necessary to make this film a total triumph. But for the elements that are good in it – and they are indeed manifold – `Beautiful Joe' is a film that deserves to be seen and enjoyed.

Sharon Stone stars as Hush, a sleazy and irresponsible woman who has two children and lives in a small apartment. She is also in debt with a low-rate loan shark and, as a result, she is constantly being threatened by them. However, she eventually meets Joe (Billy Connolly), a man whose wife has just left him and also has found out that he has a brain tumor. They both fall in love while he helps her deal with her problems.

With such a story, one would think that this movie would add up to something good. However, the reality is that 'Beautiful Joe' is a film that does not work on any level. It starts out as a drama that puts an emphasis on a rather unconvincing love story between Joe and Hush. It then shifts to comedy (rather lame comedy that is) during the middle of the film. By the end, the film once again shifts back to drama. With such a lack of direction in a poor script and terrible acting (especially from Stone, whose career is definitely in freefall), 'Beautiful Joe' is anything but beautiful. (1/10)

What was Sharon Stone thinking. To see her in this sorry excuse of, well anything, is truly a terrible offense. The once sexiest woman in Hollywood starring opposite Billy Connely, (who, supposedly is very funny?) in a movie that doesn't know what to do with itself. One cliche after another, but the worst part is the acting. Gil Bellows, the guy from "Ally McBeal" is plain terrible, he singlehandedly ruins what's left of this fiasco. So there is absolutely NOTHING even remotely good about this crappy movie. Never should have rented it! 3/10

Billy Connolly plays it cool while everyone else goes over the top in this Sharon Stone rom-com vehicle. And while that may not seem like the best use of his talents, his understated charm lifts this production several notches from what it would have been without him. Not that Sharon Stone doesn't do a credible job as the flaky female of the story, as do most of the other actors, but it just seems to me to be a criminal waste to have one of the great comedians of the second half of the 20th century play the straight man while a bunch of dramatic actors ham it up trying to be funny?

I saw this film on TV, and though its bad sides, it's a quite enjoyable romantic comedy. I'm not a fan of romcoms in general, so any such film that I can stand must be pretty good. Of course, a big part of the reason are the leads, since I like both Billy Connelly and Sharon Stone, who, in their different ways, are not the typical sugary romcom stars, such as Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant etc. (A film with any of the mentioned is sure to make me want to throw up.) One of the setbacks is that I often get annoyed by actors doing a Southern accent, and it was no different here, but I got used to it after a while.

However, the performances are uneven. The plot with the bad guys is very bad. The mobsters are very unconvicing, and the guy from Ally McBeal is really awful. He was obviously trying to shed the good guy image and show he has 'range', but he's cartoonish and over-the-top. His character really hurt the film the most.

On the other hand, Connelly, Stone and the kids are fine, but I want to point out another performance that impressed me the most. Another TV face, not very famous - Roger Cross, who played the aliens Joshua/Cain in SF series 'First Wave', shows up in one scene, for about 2 or 3 minutes, as Stone's ex who's in jail, and proves that there are no small roles. If anything impressed me in this film, it's that scene - which proves you don't need much screen time or many lines to make a memorable character.

This is a really beautiful film. Billy Connelly is tops and Sharon Stone again shows she can play a role vs. being a role. And the two kid actors! Wow, where did they find them?

Stone is wonderfully over and under played as the woman who life has dissed and who has no control over herself. Connelly is more than wonderful as the Irish immigrant who comes to love her, understand her and save her (and her children) from herself.

Watch it and enjoy it!

Not a great film, but not bad either. Cast are excellent and it's fun. Plus, except for a few swear words, you could watch it with adults. Billy Connolly is always entertaining. Imagine how great he'd be if he ever changed his hair do. Sharon Stone plays an over-the-top floozy (or is it floozie?) with too much makeup and too little clothing. No nudity, though. And if she seems different, Gil Bellows is a far cry from the Allie McBeal attorney. I recognised Ian Holm, but I couldn't recall from where. The British actor gives an incredible performance as a tough mobster who may have just met his match. Or not. And Jurnee Smollett is delightful as the daughter, who is a far better judge of men than her mom. Written and directed by Stephen Metcalfe, who manages to avoid annoying clichés until the very end. Then again, at least it has an ending.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

An intriguing casting decision to pit Sharon Stone and Billy Connelly together in one film,but still,Beautiful Joe is really not a winner.It runs for 94 minutes for what feels like 994,and there's a ametuerishly cliched feel to it,which feels very strange.Every major star seems dispensable in the movie business,and when names like Stone and Connelly would have drawn huge box office crowds as early as about 5 years ago,they're appearing in the equivelent of cable TV movies nowaday.Stone's still as great a sexy slut today as she's always been,but you really only need to admire the cover for that.**