MovieChat Forums > Killer Joe (2012) Discussion > What the hell did I just watch?

What the hell did I just watch?

posted 11 years ago by Brody_Dalle
17 replies | jump to latest

I demand an ending. This is why I hardly ever watch indy films anymore, because you can pretty much bet there will be no ending. This movie was the worst about that. I think having no ending is comparable to ending it with "and then she woke up to find it was all a dream". Cop-out ending, lazy and pretentious writing. You can tell me all day how many awards this play won, but I'm about as big a movie geek as anyone here and I appreciate good art, and this was crap.

Point being: if you're a writer, use your imagination and give the story a damn conclusion. How can anybody even consider this a story if it has no conclusion?

~ I lick the salt from my wounds and run into the night ~

[–] he88 11 years ago

I too just watched this and feel the same. What ending? Not only was there no real conclusion, but several things made absolutely no sense at the very end. I mean wasn't Joe and Dottie together for only a few days before the end? Kind of quick to figure ones in the oven. Then again she was basically a female Forrest Gump so there's that. But back to your point. That was a real rip off after sitting through that stink bomb

[–] maxorec 11 years ago

Thank you! I'm searching the forum to see if anyone else mentions how fast she knew she was pregnant. It couldn't have been more than a week. And she seemed pretty retarded, so I wouldn't trust her knowing whether or not she's pregnant.

[–] n-j-toner 9 years ago

Not to argue with your opinion, that's all yours. But...

A couple of times in the movie Dottie was shown as perceptive, preternaturally so:

She knew Chris and Ansel were planning to kill her mother - at first they thought she was 'sleep walking'

She knew the phone ringing in the trailer was for Joe.

She knew Sharla had a boyfriend - Sharla was too flustered to wonder how

You can argue for her being special in the psychic sense, or just really observant. But either of those qualities could lead to her being quickly aware of a life inside.

At the same time you could ignore all that and jsut assume she's a bit slow kinda special and was lying to make everyone stop.

Dum Spiro Spero

[–] manolo611 11 years ago

I cant believe it. I agree with you. wtf man.

[–] IsleOfDogs 11 years ago

Yes I agree.

I actually enjoyed the film up to the whole final scene, which to me felt like one big out of place joke.

Hard to believe someone actually wrote that turd.

[–] khruzek 11 years ago

I like Indie movies, and love Matthew.

But I just did not care for this movie. My assumption is she shot Joe in the end too. I don't mind the lack of ending. Some movies are not always tied up with a pretty bow.

I just found the movie too dark and disturbing on an emotional level.

[–] weiszed 9 years ago

Personally, I hate the "cut to black and let the audience decide" endings. My views are pretty much summed up by the OP. To me, the only time this works is when the ending is irrelevant. Take Inception for instance. It didn't matter whether the totem continued to spin or not because the character left it there to go be with his children. He had reached closure which was the true ending to the story.

But this...I have no clue what happened. Presumably Dottie "wanted to love her baby like mothers should" which she had been deprived of as a younger girl and (in my mind) was eliminating all threats. But if that was the case, why not show her finishing the job? And Joe's reaction at the end was equally as confusing for someone that had been motivated by other drivers the entire film.

[–] franzkabuki 11 years ago

"If you`re a writer, use your imagination and give the story a damn conclusion".

Yeah, that would have been so incomparably more imaginative to show the chick shoot the cop... or not.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] mickeymyhorse 11 years ago

Yep. Alot was left w/o a conclusion. Or maybe the end was for the viewer's interpretation? Idk, but the ending sucked big time (no pun intended for a spoiler I won't mention). I love MM, which is the only reason I watched it in the first place & his acting was great, but the story was a stinker.
A poster above said Dottie was a "female Forrest Gump" & I have to totally agree. How would she kno she's pregnant so soon? There are tests u can buy @ the drug store, but I doubt this idiot would kno how to use it. And Joe is so happy about having a baby? Does that mean his
days as a part time hit man are over? Or would he stay in the hit business to get extra $ for the baby? Oh well. Love Matthew, hate the movie.

[–] unknown1000 10 years ago

you watched a great movie ;)

[–] love_horror 9 years ago

Yes, even i felt that the movie should have had an ending.

This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time.

[–] leah-sees 9 years ago

The writer did put in "an ending". It matters not to the story whether or not Joe was shot. What matters is that Dottie was finally able to take charge of her own life, and that was shown. There WAS "an ending".

[–] prplayer 8 years ago

MM created a memorable character, he was creepy and menacing, plus you can see Temple fully nude

so it's not all bad

so many movies, so little time

[–] jpkrunch 8 years ago

if wide bodies wearing merkins is your idea of a party -- good for you!

I would say my memory is not what it used to be. But I don't remember what my memory used to be.

[–] palacerevolution2000 8 years ago

It wasn't the end that bothered me so much. Although it was pretty lame, but it fit in them trying too hard to convey this indie vibe. What bothered me more was the forced indie-ness of it. The over the top acting. Completely over acted; in those early scenes.
But it was Matt (who I like a lot usually) who took the cake with that whole climactic scene w chicken bone etc.
It seemed to me that either the writer, or Friedkin, or Matthew watched too much Samuel Jackson ca. "Pulp Fiction" When Matt starts talking about everyone getting round the table for dinner, and all that, it was so lame. It's "Ive seen this already; done better"