Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Steve Pulaski Whenever I watch a film like Frank Whaley's Joe the King, it reminds me how grateful I am to have the family I have, the opportunities I have, the privileges I have, and the love had for me. After spending one-hundred minutes with a kid who has almost nothing, I think about myself, and how I have so much more than I can ever want, no so much about the tangible things, but the intangibles like unconditional love, incredible academic opportunities, and a whirlwind of support for what I do. Counting these blessings only becomes easier after witnessing a film like Joe the King.The film stars Noah Fleiss as the titular character, a fourteen-year-old who has spent his life victim to physical and emotional abuse by his violent, alcoholic father Bob (Val Kilmer) and his short-tempered mother Theresa (Karen Young), who doesn't make up for the lack of attention brought on by his father. Joe's brother is rather kind to Joe, never threatening or unnecessarily assertive, but still lacks that kind of warmth and love that Joe desperately needs in his life. Taunted by his classmates because his father works as a janitor, harassed by drug dealers who are threatening his life because his father won't pay his debts, and left to his own devices, Joe takes on a quiet life of crime, conducting petty heists and stealing from local residents in order to obtain the money he needs. Unlike most kids his age, Joe has a job, which is a cook and bus-boy in a sketchy restaurant. Joe works to buy his mother all the vinyls his father trashed in a drunken rage, while also trying to keep his criminal profile as subtle as it can be without him getting caught.The idea behind Joe the King is incredibly intriguing, focusing on a young boy who, through all the abuse and neglect, still loves and deeply cares for his parents, which is a rarity in these kinds of films. Normally, we see a young boy or girl hating their parents for putting them under these conditions, which is very understandable. However, Joe's desire to help his dad out personally and repay his mother for something he had no involvement in makes Joe the King unique in the department of coming of age films.Fleiss is great as Joe, clearly possessing the traits of an actor who can show no emotion or a lot of it, depending on what the scene calls for. Assisted by the likes of Kilmer and Young, he can really do no wrong, showing what life is like being a young boy with little to rely on and no one to trust. Even his guidance counselor (Ethan Hawke) bears a frustrating emptiness in Joe's mind, really proving to himself that he can't trust anyone and only has himself to rely on.The only issue with the writing (done by Whaley himself) is that the film spends too much time on Joe, so much so that the supporting characters in his life are subtly developed and only given vague and rather broad stereotypes to work off of. Because of this, no one besides Joe really receives development in the film and that's an issue for a film looking to develop multiple different characters in multiple different situations.Despite this, Whaley overcomes the film's largest task, which is make a character who does wrong, morally reprehensible things sympathetic and emotionally honest, a feat that remains consistent throughout the film. Whaley treads a fine line between committing contemptible actions as a poor, loathsome character and having sympathy for the offender nicely, making Joe a surprisingly sympathetic soul throughout the entire film. Consistently we recognize that he is a good soul doing bad things in order to stay moderately afloat, which is what makes the film strong and stable.With three directorial efforts under his belt, and a fourth one on the way, Whaley proves that he enjoys glaringly flawed characters, who consistently try to do good by doing bad, which immediately makes for an intriguing story. Lifted up by fantastic performances by everyone involved and a biting, almost unshakeable amount of emotional leverage, Joe the King is equal parts upsetting as it is moving, which, for a first time director, is difficult to achieve. However, Whaley handles the challenge like a true directing veteran.Starring: Noah Fleiss, Val Kilmer, Karen Young, and Ethan Hawke. Directed by: Frank Whaley.

dharper12 "Joe the King", was a king above the fools in the world.Adults have such a self centered way of the expectation of kid's motives and actions without considering the very basic situation they are coming from and this film confirms how stupid people really are. The school admin and teachers all knew very well about Joe's father, "you're just like your father", so the kid was labeled the first day he walked into that school as a loser. He was the school's scape goat.We like to believe our children are getting a constructive education and not a confession of home life humiliation. As a result, this wacko so-called teacher exercises her ego, hatred and anguish of her own life on his bare butt by spanking him in front of a shocked audience of classmates. Corporal punishment is sick but I guarantee mental tearing a child apart in front of peers happens everyday and is the most devastating of all. Sadly enough, Joe gets no support from mom or dad; just more emotional gouging. Gets me thinking, there are no bad kids, mainly bad adults who take their disappointed failures in their own lives out on less powerful people, especially kids.But you see how resilient Joe is. He just goes on living by his own kind of structure and I'm thinking, he's gonna blow, throughout the movie, but he is amazing. This kid had great potential, he just needed support, understanding, involvement and trust.We all need to stop and listen, there is a little bit of Joe in all of us.

xletxmexgox This movie was, firstly, nothing like what all the summaries, plots, etc. The mother wasn't abusive at all; maybe a bit neglectful, but I would call even that a stretch. In fact, the only 'abuse' is once when the father swats him, and we hear about the second time, when the brother tells Joe that his father punched their mother. Neglect, yeah, there's a lot of that. Were they crappy parents? Yeah, definitely. But to make it out like this kid 'suffers horrible abuse' is just insultingly ridiculous. Secondly, there was not a single character in this whole film who I really cared about at all. The parents were stupid, dense, and thick, the brother was willing to turn his back on Joe at any time, the teacher (played by a very disappointing Ethan Hawke) was -at least this was my impression, I'm sure people will disagree -a retarded moron, who didn't really care about Joe at all, the people at his job who alternate between nice and 'evil horrible monsters' so quickly it's not believable, and Joe's friends who end up betraying him, or turning their back on him. Again, most of this firm is unbelievable. Almost all of the characters go from evil demons to loving saints at some point, mostly in the blink of an eye. I also believe that the so called 'abuse' in this story helps perpetuate a large part of what is wrong with America today. There are real kids out there, who live in constant hell, not knowing whether or not today will be the day a family member takes the abuse too far and kills them. But I have continually seen films like this, and often times in real life, where a kid mouths off, his parent swats him, and it's 'OH MY GOD, THEY BEAT THE POOR CHILD!'. No. Joe had it pretty damn light compared to a lot of kids. All that aside... There still was not a single redeeming quality. Not even Joe himself. The boy brought on ninety percent of his own problems by being retarded. Horrible, horrible movie, with nothing going for it.

jotix100 This movie came as a total surprise the other night. Intrigued with the prospect of watching Frank Whalley's take on the film, we decided to watch and it paid off royally. Mr. Whalley has learned his lesson well, both in front, and behind the camera. Frank Whalley is a man capable of getting a lot out of his cast, having been in that position himself.The film is a disturbing account on a family that appears to be beyond dysfunctional. The father, Bob Henry, is a man that life has passed him by and has sought company with the bottle; he is the janitor in his children's school. As seems to be the case with men in this situation, Bob vents his frustrations with whoever crosses him, as we watch in horror the way he beats his wife.Joe, the sensitive young son, is ridiculed in school by a teacher at a tender age, where compassion for his state in life would have worked better. As he grows, he becomes a a young man that will do whatever in order to get what he wants. He begins stealing from the stores he is sent on errands as well as from the restaurant where he is employed as a dishwasher. We watch him as he eats hungrily the leftovers that come his way before washing those plates. Eventually, Joe will go to stealing from his boss and getting into trouble that will scar him for life. The only kindness Joe receives is from the teacher counselor in his school.The best achievement for the director is the acting quality he gets from his cast. Noah Fleiss, who portrays Joe, is the best thing in the film. He is a young talent to watch. Val Kilmer is seen as the father who seems to live in a permanent fog caused by his heavy drinking. Karen Young is Theresa, the suffering wife. Ethan Hawke plays the kind hearted teacher and Camryn Manheim is the horrible one."Joe the King" deserves a viewing because of the excellent direction of Frank Whalley.