SPOILERS - "Joe The King" is such a bleak story of a young boy's plight that by the time the end came, which offers some redemption, my wife had tuned out to the point that she completely missed the point, until I re=played the last scene for her. As Joe is led away to begin his term in reform school, his mother is playing the Johnny Ray record about the "little white cloud", and this is Joe's way of describing himself to his mom. It was never clear in the film how Joe came by the moniker "the King."
The film starts when Joe is 9, doesn't mix with other school kids, is seen smoking, and later in class is reluctant to tell that his dad (Val Kilmer, in a good role) is a school janitor. Who also happens to be a drunk, and who owes many townspeople from $400 to $1000 each. Mom is not much better, a hapless sort, and Joe is kind of floating through his young life.
Most of the story takes place when Joe is 14. We see that he is a petty thief, stealing Hohos, but that's because he gets no good meals at home. We see him breaking into a car to steal jewelry to hock. We see that he is often tardy for school, but that is because he works late, illegally, as a dishwasher. One night, learning the owners are out of town, he breaks into their home to steal money.
As we eventually find out, Joe is doing all these things for his parents. he wants to pay off dad's debts. He wants to replace the record collection of mom's that dad broke in a drunken rage. His life is pretty well hopeless, and he acts it every day. He pays off the debts, gets mom's records replaced, is arrested, sentenced to reform school. Mom and dad never find out exactly what was going on. He did all that because of his love of his parents, a love that for the most part was always unspoken. Until a scene, near the end, when dad is leaving and says, "...love you." Joe stops, evaluates his hearing, and that provides the spark of his hope. At the end, his card and note to his mom, which leads her to play the song, is a statement of his love for mom.
The film ends, but we are surely to assume the 6 months Joe will spend in reform school will let him start fresh, and maybe things will be different next time. Maybe not.
This is a difficult film to watch, because we see everyone in the film leading one type of destructive life or another. Perhaps all to set up the ending, which can be a bit obscure for many viewers.
The film starts when Joe is 9, doesn't mix with other school kids, is seen smoking, and later in class is reluctant to tell that his dad (Val Kilmer, in a good role) is a school janitor. Who also happens to be a drunk, and who owes many townspeople from $400 to $1000 each. Mom is not much better, a hapless sort, and Joe is kind of floating through his young life.
Most of the story takes place when Joe is 14. We see that he is a petty thief, stealing Hohos, but that's because he gets no good meals at home. We see him breaking into a car to steal jewelry to hock. We see that he is often tardy for school, but that is because he works late, illegally, as a dishwasher. One night, learning the owners are out of town, he breaks into their home to steal money.
As we eventually find out, Joe is doing all these things for his parents. he wants to pay off dad's debts. He wants to replace the record collection of mom's that dad broke in a drunken rage. His life is pretty well hopeless, and he acts it every day. He pays off the debts, gets mom's records replaced, is arrested, sentenced to reform school. Mom and dad never find out exactly what was going on. He did all that because of his love of his parents, a love that for the most part was always unspoken. Until a scene, near the end, when dad is leaving and says, "...love you." Joe stops, evaluates his hearing, and that provides the spark of his hope. At the end, his card and note to his mom, which leads her to play the song, is a statement of his love for mom.
The film ends, but we are surely to assume the 6 months Joe will spend in reform school will let him start fresh, and maybe things will be different next time. Maybe not.
This is a difficult film to watch, because we see everyone in the film leading one type of destructive life or another. Perhaps all to set up the ending, which can be a bit obscure for many viewers.