For the most part, "Joe" is an ugly answer to even 2024 world we live in. How history repeats itself.
The story is of a wealthy man, Bill, who has a junkie daughter who lives with a scumbag boyfriend. He ends up murdering the guy and disappears into a bar where he comes across a loudmouth racist named Joe. In a drunken stupor, Bill ends up spilling the beans about the murder. Instead of blackmailing the man, Joe ends up befriending him. As murdering an unrepentant junkie seems to improve the world.
The daughter (played by Susan Sarandon in her debut) is lost in the world of communes and hippie-dom. She escapes from the hospital, and so the rich dude and Joe go searching for her.
They go down a rabbit hole of the 60's culture.
The film is uncomfortably funny. What Joe says isn't unlike what Middle America is STILL thinking. Director John Avildsen handles the interactions with such raw reality, I can see a 1970's crowd really booing whenever Joe shows up.
Peter Boyle is absolutely amazing as Joe. It's no wonder Scorsese hires him later for "Taxi Driver". His portrayal of Joe is thuggish, brutish, yet sometimes is offbeat funny. Having grown up in Ohio, there are many many Joes. On the surface they spew vitriol to the world. Having never experience the world. When Joe and Wealthy Dude go into the Village in NYC, that's when it gets really funny. Archie Bunker style Though this isn't a comedy, it elicits laughs.
John Avildsen's early flicks are pretty remarkable. He really hits the nail later on with "Rocky" and "Karate Kid" His cinematic sensibility is pretty solid here.
Also worth mentioning is Audrey Caire who plays Bill's wife. She is socially aware of the economic differences of her family and Joe's YET, having a junkie daughter sort of puts them on the same playing field.
Dennis Patrick's Bill is entirely believable as a rigid executive. He isn't the country club snob but curious about the world. He plays along with the dirty hippies. Isn't patronizing. He isn't George C. Scott's "Hardcore" As rough as this film is, it's telling that it still will speak to modern America.
The story is of a wealthy man, Bill, who has a junkie daughter who lives with a scumbag boyfriend. He ends up murdering the guy and disappears into a bar where he comes across a loudmouth racist named Joe. In a drunken stupor, Bill ends up spilling the beans about the murder. Instead of blackmailing the man, Joe ends up befriending him. As murdering an unrepentant junkie seems to improve the world.
The daughter (played by Susan Sarandon in her debut) is lost in the world of communes and hippie-dom. She escapes from the hospital, and so the rich dude and Joe go searching for her.
They go down a rabbit hole of the 60's culture.
The film is uncomfortably funny. What Joe says isn't unlike what Middle America is STILL thinking. Director John Avildsen handles the interactions with such raw reality, I can see a 1970's crowd really booing whenever Joe shows up.
Peter Boyle is absolutely amazing as Joe. It's no wonder Scorsese hires him later for "Taxi Driver". His portrayal of Joe is thuggish, brutish, yet sometimes is offbeat funny. Having grown up in Ohio, there are many many Joes. On the surface they spew vitriol to the world. Having never experience the world. When Joe and Wealthy Dude go into the Village in NYC, that's when it gets really funny. Archie Bunker style Though this isn't a comedy, it elicits laughs.
John Avildsen's early flicks are pretty remarkable. He really hits the nail later on with "Rocky" and "Karate Kid" His cinematic sensibility is pretty solid here.
Also worth mentioning is Audrey Caire who plays Bill's wife. She is socially aware of the economic differences of her family and Joe's YET, having a junkie daughter sort of puts them on the same playing field.
Dennis Patrick's Bill is entirely believable as a rigid executive. He isn't the country club snob but curious about the world. He plays along with the dirty hippies. Isn't patronizing. He isn't George C. Scott's "Hardcore" As rough as this film is, it's telling that it still will speak to modern America.