Joe

Nicolas Cage plays Joe, a generally kind man from the South with a violent streak he'd like to keep hidden. That proves difficult when he becomes friends with a poor teenage boy (Tye Sheridan of Mud fame) whose severely alcoholic father (Gary Poulter) likes to beat the tar out of him. Hailed as a return to form for frequently slumming Cage, I wouldn't personally call this one of his best. He's more subtle and more into it than he has been in a while, for sure, but this role isn't as good as his best work. He's definitely good, though. Sheridan is about as good here as he was in Mud (the two stories have a lot of similarities that are hard to deny). Poulter is the real stand out. Apparently he was a homeless man whom Green had met in Austin. Unfortunately, he passed away shortly after the film was finished. The story is a little thin to justify its two hour runtime, but it's a pretty good movie.