The second of three weeks of William Friedkin. Do remember to check out my exploration of the man himself.
Bug (2006): Tracy Letts wrote the play the movie is based on in 1996 and he also penned the screenplay. It tells of a lonely two lonely people who meet through happenstance in the middle of nowhere, USA, quickly form some co-dependency and their own paranoid and obsessive behaviours feed on each other. Pretty much most romances, really. Perhaps in 2006 it felt outside of context, but watching this today hits very hard. Brilliant performances all around, particularly the leads Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon, make for a captivating descent into madness. Is it all a bit too much? That’s the main criticism I’ve found to be levied against Bug, but when you look at reality, it’s eerily apparent that our imaginations cannot fathom what alienation and manipulation can achieve. Maybe the descent is too abrupt, but I still find myself thinking of this one days after watching it, so I’ll go with my gut and say that’s got to mean something…that it demands to be seen. 8
Killer Joe (2011): Watching them in succession, it makes sense that Letts would write something as unhinged as Killer Joe. Friedkin’s second to last feature marked an important turning point in the career of Matthew McConaughey, who switched tracks in 2011 and become one of the best dramatic actors in America. In this one, where he’s part of a pitch-perfect cast including Juno Temple, Emile Hirsch, Gina Gershon and Thomas Haden Church, he plays the titular character, in a story that’s both troubling and darkly funny. There is a baseness to this movies that will make you want to shower as soon as its finished, which in itself is as strong a feeling any movie might wish to elicit. It might be too unhinged for its own good at times, including a couple of brutal scenes that make for beyond uncomfortable viewing, yet the overall package is just too compelling to let Killer Joe pass by. 7
The Boys in the Band (1970): One year before The French Connection, Friedkin directed Mart Crowley’s play about a group of gay men who gather at an apartment for a party in 1968. It’s the kind of set-up that you just know is bound to lead to clever witticisms, heated arguments and friendships crumbling, which is pretty much what happens as the alcohol-intake goes up and the inhibitions go down. It takes a while for the movie to get going, as all the pieces come into place for a finale that’s rewarding, yet terribly sad. The story’s enduring allure was confirmed by another 2020 adaptation, but even this original stands up well to the test of time. 7
The People vs. Paul Crump (1962): Friedkin’s first movie was a documentary he came to make after atypically going to a party and meeting a priest who served on death row. There he was told about the case of Paul Crump, a black man who had been convicted of murder during an audacious robbery in the early 1950s and sentenced to execution. The priest, the prison warden and Friedkin himself had come to believe that he was innocent and although this movie was never televised at the time, it swayed the governor to change Crump’s sentence to life in prison. It’s a fairly stylish film, with considerably more visual flourish than what was to come from Friedkin, and in spite of the poor VHS quality it has survived in, it makes a compelling (if one-sided) case. Crump had been coerced to confess, as was customary at the time and ended up spending 39 years incarcerated. Unfortunately he did not cope with life after being released and he died in a mental health center at the age of 72. By then, Friedkin had doubts over his innocence, but this remains a well assembled story with effective reenactments, setting the foundation for the “induced documentary” style that was to carry over well in the seminal success of The French Connection. 7
Rules of Engagement (2000): Half war-movie, half court-room drama, Rules of Engagement is a mildly enjoyable tale of a career solider who is accused of killing unarmed civilians, as the government weighs political interests of justice. It’s all fairly blunt, based on a less than riveting script and too long, but the performances from Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson are strong. On the other hand, Guy Pearce goes too hard at it and Ben Kingsley’s role is almost cameo level, more minor sins that the movie has to bear. Not a bad watch, but definitely minor Friedkin stuff, particularly because the court-room drama is weak. 6
tributary stu 