Joe | |
---|---|
Directed by | John G. Avildsen |
Written by | Norman Wexler |
Produced by | David Gil |
Starring | Peter Boyle Dennis Patrick Audrey Caire Susan Sarandon K Callan Patrick McDermott |
Cinematography | John G. Avildsen |
Edited by | George T. Norris |
Music by | Bobby Scott |
Distributed by | Cannon Group[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 107 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $106,000 |
Box office | $19,319,254[2][3] or $9.5 million[4] |
Joe is a 1970 American drama film written by Norman Wexler and directed by John G. Avildsen. It stars Peter Boyle, Dennis Patrick, and Susan Sarandon in her film debut.[5][6]
The film follows New York business executive Bill Compton as his life unravels into murderous chaos after he kills his daughter's drug-dealing boyfriend and enters into a peculiar partnership with factory worker Joe, a veteran with racist fantasies of vigilante violence. Their search for Compton's missing daughter leads to a raid on a hippie commune that turns into mass murder where Compton mistakenly shoots his own daughter.
The film's plot coincidentally resembled a real-life mass murder in Detroit, where the killer had killed his own daughter. The real-life killer gained publicity for his actions, and received letters of support from hundreds of parents. The film has received praise for its black comedy-style satire of social class.