Reviewing Movies

The title may be Joe but remind Cage of the adage about being cast with children and animals for this movie belongs to Ty Sheridan as Gary the boy/man trapped in a family with an abusive father. It is his life that drives the story arc. Gary’s father is played by a rubby plucked from the streets of Austin Texas who didn’t live to see the movie screened, he doesn’t so much act as play himself. By all means watch the supplemental material on this DVD if for no other reason than to see footage of Larry Brown the author of the book upon which this is based. As those additions explain turning a book into a movie entails deciding what you consider the essential storyline and cutting out the rest, in this case more than 90% of the book including Gary’s sister Fay whose story is the book’s sequel. There is violence, the pumping of Cages’ naked butt in rut, villainy, brutality but the director’s light touch and sympathy for his characters fails to portray anyone as evil or gruesome. Definitely read the book before you rent the movie.