Movie Reviews

Joe the King

From the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival

Starring: Noah Fleiss, Ethan Hawke, Val Kilmer, John Leguizamo, Max Ligosh, Karen Young. Directed by Frank Whaley.

Boy I thought this movie was about 2 1/2 hours long - and it was actually only 1 1/2 hours. The acting was great - Noah was phenomenal as Joe. But the story wasn't all that original - and a little drawn out. Joe has a screwed up home life, not much better school life, and has grown into a life of crime - all the while having a very good heart.

Frank Whaley did a wonderful job of allowing the actors to fully develop into their characters, making them seem very human and real. The subtleties in Joe's character, showing his goodness as well as the stress of his life, made me want to cry a couple of times. I wouldn't say the movie was bad - because it wasn't - it was just very slow moving.

Afterwards, there was a brief Q and A with Frank Whaley and Noah Fleiss. Noah (age: 15) was very charming and seemed sweet. Nothing very enlightening about the making of the film was revealed - but that was mostly due to the bad questions asked by the audience. Which is always interesting - seeing what questions the audience will ask. We've discovered that people seem to read way more into movies than we do. Frankly I don't need to know the motivation for every scene or the subtle underlying meanings of every conversation. I just like to be entertained. But many people always seems to try to dig deeper into the story - the characters – and look for hidden meanings that aren't even there

(Trixie Sept 1999)

Great acting from a great cast who I'm sure we will be seeing more of. The story line has been done before in different ways. A family struggling with an alcoholic father. A mother who shows her love a little too late. A boy who has a heart of gold. Perfect movie for a video to watch on a Sunday afternoon with your family.
(Sheila Sept. 1999)

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