Killer Joe (William Friedkin)

I remember when--it must be close to a dozen years ago--Mike saw Tracey Lett's play, Killer Joe, in New York with a friend. I hadn't been able to go, and on his return said it was just as well. As much as he had liked the play, he was certain I would not have.

He was right. I wouldn't have liked it then.

Though I don't believe I become desensitized to violence in the subsequent years, I have learned to disassociate from what's happening on the screen. And in this particular film, that's a good trick to be able to play.

Like so many Lett's dramatic works, Killer Joe is a psychological study, this time in crime-ridden, drug-addled, intelligence-challenged trailer park in Texas. Though he sometimes overplays the stereotypes, by and large he hits the target.

Fantastic performances by Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church, and Gina Gorshen. And Matthew McConaughey owes the role if Texas lawman.

The scene with the fried chicken leg is a bizarre as any on screen.

Highly recommended: with the caveat that the NC-17 rating is for the graphic violence and explicit rape.