Killer Joe
Short description
In a rundown corner of Texas, Chris Smith, a small-time drug dealer, finds himself in serious trouble when his mother steals his stash and he owes money to a dangerous dealer named Digger Soames. Learning that his mother holds a life insurance policy worth fifty thousand dollars, Chris and his family decide to have her killed and collect the payout. They hire Joe Cooper, a police detective who also works as a contract killer, but he normally demands payment in advance. Since the family has nothing to offer upfront, Joe proposes an unusual arrangement: Chris's younger sister Dottie will stay with him as collateral until the job is done and he is paid.
The film was directed by William Friedkin and written by Tracy Letts, adapting his own play. It is the fifteenth of sixteen films Friedkin directed in chronological order, following Bug in 2007 and preceding The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial in 2023. Matthew McConaughey plays Joe Cooper, with Emile Hirsch as Chris, Juno Temple as Dottie, Thomas Haden Church as Ansel Smith, Gina Gershon as Sharla Smith and Marc Macaulay as Digger Soames. Produced by Scott Einbinder and Nicolas Chartier for a reported ten million dollars, it took about five million worldwide.
On IMDb it holds 6.7 out of 10 from roughly eighty-eight thousand votes, and on TMDB 6.5 out of 10 from around sixteen hundred votes. A critics' rating of 7 out of 10 from 168 reviews sits slightly above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- "Killer Joe" is Tracy Letts' first play, written by him in 1991.
- When Chris is attacked by two bikers, it's clear their blows aren't reaching him.
- The film was released in theaters with an NC-17 rating. But it was specifically edited for an R rating for the release on home media.
- Gina Gershon admitted in an interview that she wore a pubic hairpiece in the film. And before filming, when a variety of these hairpieces were brought in, she chose one and named it Bertha.
- Director William Friedkin initially planned to cast Kurt Russell or Billy Bob Thornton as the hitman. Russell was interested in the offer but ultimately turned it down, explaining that if he accepted the role, Goldie Hawn "would kill him".
- When Chris returns home after Digger's gang beat him up, his teeth are absolutely white, but in a close-up, they are all smeared with blood.
- During the train scene, when Chris and Dottie are shown, his facial scars disappear.
- Almost 20 years ago, Gina Gershon was offered the role of Sharla in a theatrical production (she also played the same role on screen), but she turned down the offer, not wanting to perform a scene with a chicken leg on stage 'eight times a week'.
- Although the story begins with the characters of Rex and Adele, they remain on the sidelines of the main plot throughout the film. Adele is only seen once, after she is killed, and Rex appears in two short scenes.
- In one scene, Dottie asks whether Joe is the same kind of detective as Detective Magnum, or not. Matthew McConaughey had the chance to play Detective Magnum in a big-budget remake of the series in 2007, but by 2012, the project had stalled.
- When Sharla is looking at the photos, in a close-up she holds them in both hands. When the camera changes angle, she's holding a stack of photos in one hand and her phone in the other.
- Towards the end of the film, Joe says the phrase “caveat emptor” to Chris, which translates from Latin as “let the buyer beware”.
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