August: Osage County (2013) or, A Shot of the Oklahoma Family Blues

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+ Best Ensemble of the Year: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Benedict Cumberbatch, Margo Martindale, Juliette Lewis, Chris Cooper, Misty Upham, Abigail Breslin, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard

Matriarch Meryl Streep goes down on the poster for John Wells' August: Osage County

John Wells (The Company Men (2010)) has directed this adaptation of Tracy Letts' (Killer Joe (2011)) 2007 play of the same title, adapted by Letts himself. August is a plush ensemble piece:

The Weston family gathers in the home of their pill-addicted matriarch, as her husband Beverly has gone missing, and old resentments quickly dense the air.

Oklahoma is the flat, seemingly endless, unbearably hot setting, at times seeming like a backdrop devoid of real dimensions, in August, which has pressure cooker similarities to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), another play adaptation.
The dinner scene of the film is particularly great, and the star-studded cast glitters: Meryl Streep (Heartburn (1986)) and Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman (1990)), Oscar-nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, act together for the first time here, (losing to Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine (2013) and Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave (2013), respectively); also Ewan McGregor (I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)), Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)), Margo Martindale (Heaven Is for Real (2014)), Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers (1994)), - who is outstanding and tragically funny in the film, - and Chris Cooper (The Muppets (2011)) and Misty Upham (Frozen River (2008)) are all terrific. Upham's relatively young life ended sadly as a real life tragedy, as she disappeared and was found dead at age 32 in 2014.
August seems like an homage to the depressing family gathering and bleakness in general. - With such good forces involved, some good music choices to boot, from a great play, such a shot of pessimism (containing some laughs as well) is highly welcome, and I repay it with generous 5 ♥.

Related posts:

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) or, He's GAY, Ya Get It?!?

 Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 74.1 mil. $
= Box office success
[Filming took place from October-December 2012 in Oklahoma and LA. It premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, opened limited in the end of December and wide on January 10 to a 7.1 mil. $ first domestic weekend and mixed reviews, as many critics reacted against the darkness of the film. It grossed 37.7 mil. $ (51 % of the total gross) in North America.]

What do you think of August: Osage County?

Killer Joe (2011) - Friedkin's dark, intense maybe last cinematic package

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3 Time Film Excess Nominee:


Best Screenplay: Tracy Letts (lost to Rory Stewart Kinnear, Lynne Ramsay for We Need to Talk About Kevin)
Best Director: William Friedkin (lost to Agnieszka Holland for In Darkness)
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey (lost to Jack Black for Bernie)

+ Best Poster of the Year 

Blood-spattered deep-fried chicken never looked as good as on the poster for William Friedkin's Killer Joe

QUICK REVIEW:

An underclass thug accuses his mother of cocaine theft and plans her death for the insurance sum along with his father and his family and with the help of a mysterious hitman. But the untraditional retainer for the payment (his younger sister) gets him to change his mind...

The Joe character, played with diabolic mastery by Matthew McConaughey (Mud (2012)), is symbolic, it seems to me, as he is the incarnated consequence that this inconsequential family had not calculated on. Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild (2007)), Thomas Haden Church (Heaven Is for Real (2014)), Gina Gershon (Bound (1996)) and Juno Temple (Maleficent (2014)) are all rough diamonds under the solid direction of master filmmaker William Friedkin (The Exorcist (1973)).
Tracy Letts (Bug (2006)) has adapted his own play, (just as he did for Friedkin's much inferior Bug), and his script is really good. The film seems a little bit like Friedkin's answer to the challenge that is Drive (2011), - though Killer Joe is less stylized, - but since the two came out around the same time, that interpretation wouldn't hold up in court.
The violence of Joe is gruesome, once it explodes in the film's finale. The film has plenty of dark humor and could be termed misanthropic. - It certainly shows a deeply callous, stupid, unhelpful underbelly of society without pity. The film's smart ending may make you feel a (very politically incorrect) cry howl out inside of you, objecting to the fact that these abominable people actually procreate.
Killer Joe is Friedkin's last film to date, and perhaps it will be the last of his career. If so, it is a strong end, a cool, hard, ideal for late-night adult pleasure (strictly for those with strong stomachs) a' la Bound.

Related review:

William Friedkin: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
The Boys in the Band (1970) - Friedkin and Crowley's groundbreaking gay birthday party movie

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: 3.7 mil. $
= Huge flop
[Friedkin was a box office champion once, namely with The French Connection (1971) and The Exorcist, but his career seems to come to an end with two smaller films that have flopped commercially. Killer Joe made a disappointing 1.9 mil. $ (51 % of the total gross) in the US, where it was only shown on 75 screens, its release hindered by its NC-17 rating. But also abroad, Joe, despite good reviews, suffered from poor distribution and audience reception.]

What do you think of Killer Joe?