“Joe,” which stars Nicolas Cage as Joe and Tye Sheridan as Gary, is a very well-made movie about a lumber foreman who becomes a father figure to a teenage boy.
The adolescent has a very rough home situation and turns to Joe for work. The boy’s father is a violent drunk and has no interest in his son’s welfare. We see that Joe truly cares about Gary and wouldn’t want him to go down the wrong path.
The movie, which takes place somewhere in the South, really tries to make its setting as authentic as possible. The relationship that Cage’s character has with Sheridan’s is reminiscent in ways of the relationship that Clint Eastwood had with an adolescent male in the movie “Gran Torino.”
Cage gives a restrained performance that is quite effective.
Usually, we associate a Cage performance as being over-the-top and while at times he does resort to that here, for the most part, he is on the low-key side and it fits the part well. Sheridan, who was previously in “Mud” and “The Tree of Life,” gives a touching performance as a boy who is yearning for love. I was really surprised, though, by the quality of acting done by Gary Poulter, who plays Wade, Gary’s father.
Not only did Poulter have no previous acting experience, but he was a homeless man given the role by the movie’s director. He could be so menacing and volatile in his performance that you feared for whomever he was interacting with in a scene.
I did have some problems with the movie, though. How would Gary have known where Joe lives the first time he walks to his house? The scene where Gary’s father severely beats a homeless man seemed gratuitous. It didn’t make sense that Joe would have let Gary drive his truck knowing he was just 15. Also, it didn’t make sense why Joe would have given Gary a can of beer to drink while Gary was driving. Furthermore, where would a 15-year-old like Gary have learned to drive?
Lastly, Joe couldn’t have successfully sold his truck to Gary because the transfer of ownership couldn’t have taken place with Gary being only 15.
This powerful movie deals with issues of masculinity, redemption, and connecting with those on an emotional level. Gary, despite being only 15, is not afraid to stand up for himself (even if it’s against somebody more physically imposing) and shows a maturity beyond his years. Joe tries to teach Gary how to be a man, although not always responsibly, and in turn Gary looks up to Joe. As an ex-con who has served time in prison, Joe is looking to start over and find redemption. He tries hard to withhold his violent tendencies and to be a diligent worker.
Meeting Gary is something that encourages him to make things work and gives him hope. Joe’s paternal relationship with Gary is quite affecting, as both males are damaged in their own ways, and each is able to offer therapeutic benefits to the other.
