Joe the King
Trimark Pictures | Release Date: October 15, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
This is a smart film, told in a minor key, that augurs well for Whaley's directing career. Read full review
80
Film.comErnest Hardy
Has moments that are haunting, and it stays with you long after the lights have come back up. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Whaley's self-effacing but strongly etched and wrenchingly effective film. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianDiana Abu-Jaber
The atmosphere of the movie is dense and unrelieved; it's a heavy role for such a little boy, and some people won't want to watch such a bleak, monster world. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The movie isn't a day in the park, but it manages to close on an existentially uplifting note. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
One of my favorite U.S. fiction features at 1999's Sundance Festival. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
A poignant, graceful little film. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
Has enough simmering beneath its sweaty, grimy and disconsolate surface to be more than just another rite-of-passage missive set in the '70s. Read full review
73
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
Rarely falters but neither does it ever take flight. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Deftly realist character study. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
Whaley successfully balances his scenes on a knife-edge of tenderness and anger that was Truffaut's trademark. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Leads you through a miserable childhood without sentimentality or relief. The effect is torturous. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
A powerful little gem: a little bit of "The Outsiders" (the film's tone is remarkably similar to Coppola's film, minus the airy redemption and golden sunrises), a lot of "The 400 Blows," and a slice of "Radio Flyer" all wrapped up in a dirty black bow. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
14-year-old Noah Fleiss gives a performance that's every bit as astonishing as Haley Joel Osment's work in "The Sixth Sense." Read full review
60
Village VoiceAmy Taubin
The film belongs to Fleiss, and he makes Joe's inner life so transparent that it's heartbreaking to watch the boy dig himself into a hole. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
In the end, the film feels a little futile; its relentless, one-miserable-note tone is numbing. Read full review
60
Film.comPeter Brunette
An occasionally powerful, always heartfelt drama. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJan Stewart
Antisentimental to a fault. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
Whatever else is weak or indulgent in this fledgling effort -- self-consciousness and a certain grim solemnity come to mind -- it has the jolt of truth about it, like a lot of thinly veiled fiction. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Too much self-pity. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyBruce Fretts
So willfully bleak and profanity-filled, it could only have been written and directed by an actor. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Dramatically Joe the King feels unglued, as if crucial sequences had been left on the cutting-room floor. Read full review
30
TNT RoughCutMatt Kelsey
Without any trustworthy characters for young Joe and no actual story development, the movie drags. Read full review
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