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Joe the King
Joe the King
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Joe the King

Joe the King

1999
Comedy, Drama
1h 33m
A destitute 14 year old (Noah Fleiss) struggles to keep his life together despite harsh abuse at his mother's (Karen Young) hands, harsher abuse at his father's (Val Kilmer), and a growing separation from his slightly older brother (Max Ligosh). Petty thefts for food grow into more major takes until he steals a cash box from the diner where he works. Although Joe uses the money to pay off some of his father's debts and to replace his mother's records that his father smashed in a fit of temper, Joe gets no thanks... (imdb)

Joe the King

1999
Comedy, Drama
1h 33m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 53.19% from 64 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(63)
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Rated 28 Feb 2024
44
13th
Val Kilmer's performance withstanding, I did not enjoy this, which may well be the point, but sometimes you make your point too well. I'm looking at you Reflecting Skin. Frank Whaley does a fine job behind the camera which I didn't know was a thing but might look into further. A friend of mine noted that in his attempts to watch film festival movies he's learned to walk away from anything that says "coming of age" and he's smarter than I am.
Rated 14 Aug 2009
50
21st
Val Kilmer vanity project
Rated 13 Sep 2021
75
93rd
"Joe the King" is well-made with strong performances by all the actors. It felt very realistic and left me uncomfortably sad.
Rated 15 Apr 2020
88
77th
Whaley is an incredible writer/director. He's like Spielberg's younger, funnier, more creative, honest half-brother with a much less wholesome upbringing. He has incredible vision, but unlike Spielberg he's not disconnected from his subjects. Whaley has made some cinematic masterpieces, on a shoestring budget no less, all of which have gone mostly unnoticed. Ebert unfairly called this too self-pitying. I disagree. It balances daft, dark comedy and tragic, but hopeful, drama very well.
Rated 15 Apr 2009
79
60th
I thought that this was actually quite good, I really cared and sympathized for the main character which is 75% of the battle considering movies of this sort, however, there was little redemption in the end, and it left you wondering, what is to become of this boy? What now? In this way, I guess you could say that story was unromantic and realistic, but that is exactly what is bound to turn most audiences away. If you don't mind sad stories, give it a go.

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