JOE THE KING A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): **
Dysfunctional families are in.
Writers and directors figure that the more the adults scream obscenities at the kids, the more the films will gain the sympathy of the audience. If the kids do their own share of cussing, then even better because it will reflect on the kids' upbringing. And, if the filmmakers can get an A-list star (Val Kilmer in this case) to attach himself to the project, they can easily find a studio to green light its production.
So it is with JOE THE KING by actor Frank Whaley in his debut as a writer and director. The movie has an underdeveloped script that feels like an uncompleted outline. Not much happens in this coming-of-age story, save one incident.
The opening section, shot comically with wide-angle lenses, is so unbelievable that it made me think that the movie was going to be a parody, not the grippingly realistic drama that it was billed to be. In it, a third-grade teacher (Camryn Manheim) needlessly ridicules poor Joe Henry (Peter Tambakis). Then for the sin of not giving the right answer, she pulls down his pants and spanks his bare bottom in front of the entire class.
When we meet Joe's father, Bob (Kilmer), he, too, has been lambasted by one of the school's teachers. He's an alcoholic and the school's janitor. As he cowers in the shadows, the teacher lambastes him for his drinking. A born loser, he owes almost everybody in town money.
After a few minutes, the movie skips ahead 5 years, when Noah Fleiss plays Joe as a 14-year-old and Max Ligosh plays his year older brother, Mike.
Joe works late every night at a local restaurant. He's also a thief, but the story treats this so inconsequentially that you almost don't notice. Joe is an abused kid so we are supposed to be sympathetic, not critical.
The movie's central characters are all miscast. As a semi-illiterate, blue collar worker, Kilmer is never credible. The two boys playing his sons have the good looks and perfect skin of photographic models. They show the intelligence and demeanor of prep school students, not children below the poverty line. Karen Young, as the boy's mother, phones in her performance, bringing nothing to her role.
"There are good people, Joe, and then there are guys like me," his father says in perhaps his only cogent thought in the story. "Don't get caught on the wrong side of this equation."
For all the movie's problems, one can't help but feel sorry for Joe. Too bad his story was just sketched for us. With a different cast and a more finished script, we could have gotten to know him.
JOE THE KING runs 1:40. It is rated R for language and abusive situations and would be acceptable for teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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