Synopsis: When a debt puts a young man’s life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance.

Release Date:  August 17, 2012

Thoughts:  The last time that director William Friedkin and writer Tracy Letts teamed up, the result was the mediocre adaptation of Letts’ Bug.  While that movie was pretty much forced to keep it’s one location setting, it looks like Letts has learned his lesson and opened up his Killer Joe a bit to let the characters breathe.  With its skilled director, strong source material, and solid cast this second time around for the collaborators should yield an unnerving film with the blackest of hearts at its center.  Its rating (NC-17) and tough subject matter will limit its distribution but for those of us with access to it could be in for a nice ride.  It will be hard, however, to erase from my memory a staging by Theater Pro Rata in 2008…that set the bar pretty high for any version (stage or screen) to come.