Memorable, crazy movie

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

This is easily the sickest, most disgusting piece of excrement that I have ever seen in my 65 years. I am not squeamish, but this film shamelessly exploited gratuitous violence and sleaziness and truly had no "redeeming social value". All of the director, producer and actors should be ashamed of having participated in this flaming abortion waste of time. This film showcased the worst in human nature and had no lessons for anyone except the hopelessly depraved. I need at least three showers to wash this filth off of me.

In this remake of a 1970 film by the same name, Nicholas Cage plays Joe, an ex-con and unlikely hero to a fifteen year old boy. The story is called Joe, and you'll figure out why by the end, but to be honest, I saw this film more as a coming of age story, with the majority of the focus on Gary (Tye Sheridan). Gary's family is difficult to say the least, both his parents are drug addicts, and it's up to him to earn a living to support his sister. One day while out in the woods, he comes across Joe, a man who owns a lumber company and persuades him to give him a job. Gary is a hard worker who comes to see his boss as more of a father figure than his own father, and when things get bad, he's turns to Joe for help. Joe is no saint though, as he has his own criminal past and is reluctant to get involved. This is one of these really dark, slow moving dramas, where everything may or may not be important to the story. The real action is spaced out, but when something happens, the intensity is off the charts. This film is very similar to, Winter's Bone, which also had a young lead trying to save her siblings. While Tye Sheridan is not Jennifer Lawrence, his more quiet demeanor makes him more likable in the eyes of the viewer. Sheridan is a kid who came out of nowhere to star in the independent film, Mud, and since then has become known for making these super dark, intense films, where he plays a quiet, reserved character that one can't help but root for. Nicholas Cage is equally as good in a role that is more dramatic than most of things he's done lately. That being said, Cage still has it and together with Sheridan make for one of the most interesting and unique films I've seen all year. The story and even the trailer seem to be a little dull, most people will look at this film and see it as too slow and dramatic, and at first, I thought so too, but as the film progresses it just gets better and better, ascending to the level of a must see movie.

Joe depicts some of the impacts of child abuse in a somewhat amusing (but serious) manner. However, it feels as if it is constantly trying to strive for its climax, making it quite boring until things actually become interesting. But when things kick off, they kick off, and the remaining of the second half of the film is quite good. Nicholas Cage surprisingly does a fantastic job in this film, despite his resume, and does a tough job to keep this film floating on a sinking ship. If you can battle through the first hour or so you will find light at the end of the tunnel. However, you can't excuse what could have been a much better opening. You feel as if the somber first act is being too pretentious in its goals, but it pays off somewhat in its closing act.

Nicholas Cage. Once a bankable star, has found himself falling on the wrong side of some filmic choices of late. Or, to put it another way, he's made some right turkeys recently. However, I'm pleased to say that 'Joe' isn't one of them. Okay, it's not great, but it's better than most of his stuff.Unsurprisingly, Cage plays the titular 'Joe' – the leader of a lumbering crew in America. He's doing his best to make an honest buck, but things don't always go his way. There are plenty of people who seem to want to either bust his skull in over debts, or just shoot him dead. And, if that wasn't enough to be getting on with, he hires a young lad with an alcoholic father – two people who complicate his life yet further.I guess the first thing you need to know if you're contemplating watching Joe is that it is a drama. A straight drama through and through. There's no action, adventure or even light comic relief. It's a pretty bleak affair. You'll need to be in the mood for something very 'character-driven' to appreciate this. But Cage holds it together and we see shades of the reason he was so bankable once upon a time. It's his baby, but credit has to go to the young lad who plays his new crewmember.It's a long film, clocking in at nearly two hours, so you really need to be in the mood for something this 'no thrills.' I would say it was 'fun,' only it wasn't. But then it's not supposed to be. It's supposed to be a dark and depressing drama. And for that it succeeds. You just need to make sure you're in the mood for something like this. 'The Rock' it is not.