Film Review: Beautiful Joe (2000)

There is a bad luck, there is very bad luck and there is something that happens to the protagonist at the beginning of Beautful Joe, 2000 comedy written and directed by Stephen Metcalfe. Joe (played by Billy Connolly) is an Irish florist in New York who has just been diagnosed with brain tumour. When he arrives home, he catches wife with another man. Feeling that he has nothing to lose and that he needs some excitement, he decides to bet all of his meagre savings on the horse races. His luck miraculously changes and Joe is now full of money. This catches attention of Hush (played by Sharon Stone), former stripper who suffers from gambling addiction and is in debt to local loan shark George “the Geek” (played by Ian Holm). She is convinced that Joe will help her pay her debts. Joe, however, isn’t that naive and the Hush is forced to leave New York City with her two children. Joe, however, feels sorry for her and decides to help. All four depart for Las Vegas while being pursued by Geek’s henchmen.

Five years after her triumphant performance in Casino Sharon Stone as co-star ended in direct-to-video film. Stone in this film, just like in Casino, played a character with an addiction, and, probably aware of similarities, tried to make her performance as different as possible. Unfortunately, all of her efforts failed because total lack of chemistry with popular Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. Film’s author Stephen Metcalfe, on the other hand, experiments with adding some serious social commentary to the film, often with content which is more likely to be seen in dramas by Abel Ferrara than in comedies. The experiment fails, in large part because of tonal shifts and uninspired direction. The impression is even worse after deus ex machina ending. What makes this film watchable is Connolly’s performance, who is aided by good performance of young Jurnee Smollett in the role of Huh’s daughter. Unfortunately, this is isn’t enough for Beautiful Joe to be recommended unless there is nothing better to watch.

RATING: 3/10 (+)

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