By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Dante Pereira-Olson | Frank Pando | Joaquin Phoenix | John Doman | Judith Roberts | Vinicius Damasceno
Country: france, united_kingdom, united_states
Year: 2018
Running time: 89
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5742374/reference
Thom says: “The presentation of this film was enticing and over her career director Ramsay has made the impressive RATCATCHER and WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, as well as the mediocre MORVERN CALLAR; moreover, the nearly always great performance from JoaquinPhoenix, here looking more like Guillermo Diaz from Scandal than his usual self, is unforgettable. Here he plays a troubled, grizzled vet(Joe) who has the dubious occupation of tracking down missing girls resorting to any means necessary to find and force them back with seemingly not one shred of consciousness or remorse. His weapon of choice is a utilitarian hardware hammer. He lives with his decrepit mother in a rundown, ramshackle house and uses a go-between, an agent as you will, to set up his new clients. His latest hire is an ambitiousNew York Senator whose 13-year-old daughter has run away from home and grabbed up by a nefarious, dastardly group who drugs young girls and uses them for prostitution. The story is set forth in such a way that many of the scenes are dream-like manifestations of the past, present, and even Joe’s unconscious thoughts. Joe is a total cipher, and while there’s little to like about him he serves a primitive justice to the ultra-sleazy people he comes across. That’s eventually my problem with the film, the cast is generally so despicable and the story so ugly it’s hard to stay connected. There’s certainly a TAXI DRIVER feel to the proceedings but I disconnected long before the shocking finale. 3.5 cats“