There aren’t many movies that could pull off Matthew McConaughey as a villain. He has a certain charm to him that makes him almost impossible to dislike. Even in Bernie where he acts as Jack Black’s main adversary, he’s so funny and entertaining that he’s more goofy than despicable. In Killer Joe, the story essentially consists of a family making a deal with the devil to pay off loan debt. Matthew McConaughey, as it were, plays the devil.
There proceeds to be double crossing and bad faith arrangements made and the story sort of goes off the rails. McConaughey as Killer Joe Cooper is always compelling and always in our minds even though his screen time is less than we would think. The story is really about the Smith family, but to relate the audience to their predicament, Killer Joe is always hanging over our shoulder, forcing us to watch our every move. He’s in complete control, and demonstrates this in the infamous scene involving a chicken wing, which we’re all best off not even attempting to describe. McConaughey almost always uses his charisma in the service of good, or at the very least, harmless characters. When he turns those powers into advancing corrupt and violent impulses, it’s a terrifying sight.
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Published: Jul 29, 2013 03:41 pm