Joe
All actors and roles (10)
All team (21)
Short description
Joe is a 1970 American crime drama about Bill Compton, a wealthy advertising executive whose daughter Melissa has fallen into drug use through her boyfriend, a dealer. When Bill confronts the young man, the argument ends with Bill killing him. Drifting afterward, Bill wanders into a bar and falls into conversation with Joe Curran, a factory worker who spends his evenings drinking and loudly venting his contempt for anyone outside his idea of America. When Bill confesses what he has done, the two men form an uneasy and dangerous alliance. Melissa is played by Susan Sarandon, with Peter Boyle as Joe and Dennis Patrick as Bill.
The film was directed by John G. Avildsen from a screenplay by Norman Wexler, produced by David Gil, and it stands first in the directing career listed here, ahead of Rocky, Neighbors, The Karate Kid and its sequels, Lean On Me, Rocky V and later titles. It was made for Cannon Group and released in July 1970, running 107 minutes.
Its worldwide box office of about 19 million dollars was a strong return for a modest production and helped establish Avildsen ahead of the run of hits that followed. On IMDb it holds 6.8 from around 5,100 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.5 from 83 votes. A critics' rating of 6.4 from 12 reviews places it close to the audience scores, suggesting a film regarded as solid rather than exceptional.
What's left behind the scenes
- When Peter Boyle (1935-2006) attended one of the screenings shortly after the premiere, he was unpleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic reaction of the audience to how his character dealt with the hippie in the finale. These memories would haunt him for many years and became the reason he refused to work with William Friedkin on the crime drama "The French Connection" (1971) and in other films glorifying violence. In the rare cases when he agreed to appear in such films, he would only choose minor roles without any scenes of violence. Furthermore, Boyle turned to comedy and gained fame appearing in films such as Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" (1974), and sitcoms like "Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996-2005).
- Peter Boyle wrote a screenplay for a sequel in which Joe is released from prison and has to deal with a son who resembles a hippie. In the 1980s, the film company "Cannon Pictures" announced for several years in a row that work on the sequel was underway, but eventually abandoned the idea altogether.
- Peter Boyle landed the role of Joe thanks to the improvisation skills he demonstrated during the auditions. Producers felt Boyle was too young for the role at 34 years old. They suggested casting Laurence Tierney (1919-2002), but director John G. Avildsen (1935-2017) insisted on Boyle.
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