Joe's So Mean to Josephine (1996)
Josephine has her eye on Joe, a hot-headed, petty criminal who taps phones for a living. When she finally worms her way into his heart she realises it's not a nice place to be. But is it too late?
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Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.
Just perfect...
Highly Overrated But Still Good
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Just saw this film on the sundance channel and I instantly fell in love with it. "Joe's So Mean To Josephine" is sick, painful, and great fun to watch. It's like a twisted episode of Melrose Place, only the characters are much more pathetic in their attempts to find love. Try to watch this on Sundance Channel, you wont be disapointed, and if you're anything like me you'll be screaming, "Damn you Joe!" at the television screen.
I can't think of a better written story about the problems, jealousies, insecurities that arise between couples in difficult, conflicting relationships that are based less on love than need. The dynamics between Joe and Josephine change halfway through and the pathetic behavior of Josephine suddenly changes as her career takes off the Joe's career criminal life takes a nose dive as he realizes that his life is going nowhere. The resolution is both maddening, dramatic and touching. The two lead performers are great.
This film made me very sad. Sarah Polley made some pretty dangerous choices in this film. Since she's a great actress, she made it seem like it could happen to anyone. The viewer can almost see into the mind of an emotionally abused woman.It may not have been the best film I've ever seen, but I really enjoyed the human element. It will make me think twice before I start to fall for the wrong guy...
Love the title and loved the film; a tiny perfect movie. It felt like I was watching home video, carefully edited into a realistic story; Sarah Polley and Eric Thal were Josephine and Joe, perfectly recognizable as people I know. And, I agree with Sarah that I can hardly believe the screenplay was written by a man. Josephine fared much better as a character and the end was beautiful -- seemingly abrupt, left to the viewer, enough of a surprise but well foreshadowed by the rest of the movie. Surely this will strike a chord of recognition in everyone who sees it. If not, you haven't been paying attention.