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Joe the King

Joe the King

Crime · Drama · 1999

A destitute 14-year-old struggles to keep his life together despite harsh abuse at his mother's hands, harsher abuse at his father's, and a growing separation from his slightly older brother.

Movie details

Joe the King

“The road to disaster is paved with many small mistakes.”

1999 Crime · Drama 1h 36m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.7 / 10

3.1K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

68 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

64 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

5.8 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

A destitute 14-year-old struggles to keep his life together despite harsh abuse at his mother's hands, harsher abuse at his father's, and a growing separation from his slightly older brother.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Joe the King?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Frank Whaley

Written by

Frank Whaley

Noah Fleiss

Noah Fleiss

Joe Henry

Karen Young

Karen Young

Theresa Henry

Camryn Manheim

Camryn Manheim

Mrs. Basil

Austin Pendleton

Austin Pendleton

Winston

Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer

Bob Henry

M

Max Ligosh

Mike Henry

James Costa

James Costa

Ray

Court is in session

Put Joe the King on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.