Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Or like Gina Gershon on a bender, fully armed with a well-equipped kitchen, working appliances, and some heavy-duty cleaning solutions. Jesse Baget, writer and director of "Breathless," has created a Southern-gothic tale full of betrayal, double-crosses, and a not a little amount of blood.

Lorna (Gina Gershon-Bound, Showgirls), is married to Dale (Val Kilmer-Tombstone). Dale is unconscious on the floor. So Lorna has called her very best friend, Tiny (Kelli Giddish -TV's The Good Wife) over to her house to help figure out what to do. You see, Lorna has beaned Dale on the head with her trusty cast-iron skillet after figuring out that he has most likely robbed a local bank of $100,000 and Lorna wants to know why, and mostly, where the money is.

Tiny arrives at Lorna's trailer and, with a steady stream of Jack Daniels, cigarettes, and red lipstick, the ladies decide to truss-up Dale and question him when he comes to. He claims to have no knowledge of the robbery but Lorna's not buying it, simply because he has a bad track record of lying to her. When push comes to shove, an accident occurs, leaving Dale accidentally deceased. The ladies panic and genuinely don't know what to do. Before they can devise a plan, however, the local sheriff drives up. Sheriff Cooley (Ray Liotta-Goodfellas) just wants to pay Dale a visit. It seems Dale is the number one suspect in the robbery due to his "flagrant disposition for thievery." Lorna refuses him entrance to the trailer and defends Dale saying that he has learned the error of his previous ways and has entered the "gratifying world of modular cabinet sales" and suggests the sheriff go get a search warrant if he wants to enter the trailer. The sheriff leaves and the ladies try to figure out a way to get rid of Dale's body. Thank heaven for Lorna's electric carving knife. The ensuing chaos rivals any horror movie while the trailer's kitchen and living room become a virtual abattoir. There's even a scene with Lorna's high velocity blender that's played for laughs.

Enter Maurice Doucette (Wayne Duvall - TV's Law & Order; The Good Wife). But not through the front door. A slimy private investigator, he squirms his way into the trailer via window, completely unaware he has entered the blood bath from Hell. He is aware that Dale was involved in the robbery and wants his fair share. Possibly for a new toupee. Doucette knows all about Lorna and Tiny: Lorna's distrust in Dale, Tiny's schedule at the Blue Iguana Bar (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and sometimes Saturday nights behind the bar). How he is aware brings up a twist in the story and secrets come out that test Lorna's trust in Tiny: Does Tiny know more about Dale's involvement with the robbery? How well does she know Dale? And what are Tiny's cigarettes doing in Dale's car? The plot begins to thicken as Doucette demands to know where the money is, pulls a gun on the gals, and eventually finds out what is hidden in the air duct behind the refrigerator. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to tell anyone, since his life is suddenly cut short as well.

Lorna and Tiny then enter a heated discussion over Tiny's possible involvement in the robbery. Tiny pulls two guns on Lorna. Lorna is concerned with a spot on her usually immaculate rug. There is another accident and one of the two ladies survives. Is it Lorna? Is it Tiny? Does anyone find the money? Who is left standing when all is said and done? Just what part of Dale did Earl the dog pick up off the floor and run outside with? Burning questions, all. The movie ends with another twist that includes, more blood, a getaway, and lazy daisies. Oh, and a cringe-worthy scene that involves garden shears and a finger.

It truly is a shame movies like this aren't playing in the theaters more often. "Breathless" would likely have gotten great word of mouth, brought in a few bucks, and made Jesse Baget more popular. And lord knows, we could use more talented filmmakers. All the action takes place in one location, a small trailer in the middle-of-nowhere Texas, and even though that seems difficult to pull off, the director is able to create a taut and often, funny, story that never gets stale. There are even great songs in the background performed by Cookie Evans, that brings to mind the country singers of the 50's, 60's & 70's such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and Tammy Wynette. "Breathless shows off Baget's ability to tell a simple story with sharp, witty dialogue and unobtrusive direction. Like Kelli Giddish says in the making of, included here in the DVD, "It's a great little ride."

Indeed, darlin. Indeed.

HaryScary

4 Remotes out of 5
Rated R 91 minutes 2012
DVD extras include "Making of Breathless"

WARNING: DO NOT EAT FRIED CHICKEN BEFORE OR WHILE WATCHING THIS MOVIE.

William Friedkin’s “Killer Joe” gets my vote for the most unforgettable WTF movie of 2012. It wallows in the sheer depravity of its deliberately idiotic characters without apology, and it is one of the most darkly hilarious movies I have seen in some time. I’m not sure I have “enjoyed” a comedy this black since Werner Herzog’s “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” and that was the WTF movie of 2009! It marks the second collaboration between Friedkin and playwright Tracy Letts whose play “Bug” Friedkin adapted into a movie back in 2006. With “Killer Joe,” neither is out to show the audience any mercy as they challenge them in a way most filmmakers don’t ever bother to these days (especially in the summertime).

The movie takes place in Texas and features some of the dumbest or (to be more polite) most dimwitted characters on the face of the earth. Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch) is a drug dealer who is in debt to his suppliers by several thousand dollars, and his solution is to have someone murder his mother as she has a $50,000 insurance policy. His father Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) shows only the slightest moral opposition to this plan as he divorced Chris’ mother a long time ago and has since gotten married to the conniving Sharla (Gina Gershon), and Chris already has one person in mind to carry out this cold-hearted assassination.

That person is Joe Copper (Matthew McConaughey), a police detective who works as a hired killer on the side. Now Joe demands an upfront payment of $25,000 for his services, but Chris and Ansel can only pay him after receiving the insurance payout. As a result, Joe ends up taking a retainer to make up for that: Ansel’s daughter and Chris’ sister Dottie (Juno Temple). Like with all crimes based on greed, all the careful preparation can’t keep these characters from falling into that nasty realm of disaster. But long before the movie’s end, you will agree that they all have earned the fate they ever so thoughtlessly brought on themselves.

If this seems like an unusual movie for Oscar winning director Friedkin to make, it shouldn’t. Friedkin’s movies, with the exception of “The Exorcist,” have never had characters that are deserving of redemption. “Killer Joe” will be seen by many as a bold motion picture of his, but his resume of work shows that he has never passed judgment on any of the characters that inhabit his movies. He is also a brilliant filmmaker in that he surrounds himself with a cast of actors who don’t easily judge the characters they play either.

McConaughey has been on a roll ever since he gave up making those dopey romantic comedies for movies like “The Lincoln Lawyer” and “Magic Mike.” With “Killer Joe,” he ends up giving perhaps the bravest and boldest performance of his career to date as his character is as immoral as they get. We never learn why he decided to get into this line of work while being employed as an officer of the law, but it doesn’t matter in the end. McConaughey gives us a mesmerizing portrait of a character who is more than aware of how amoral he is, and he is not about to apologize for that.

The other actors like Emile Hirsch and Thomas Haden Church deserve a lot of credit as they portray the dimwitted nature of the characters perfectly without just playing it for laughs. They play each character as being serious in what they say and what they do, and that allows the audience to laugh uncontrollably at certain moments because they almost won’t believe how badly they screw things up. Both Hirsch and Church are perfectly cast here as they invest their characters with a history that shows on their faces and which doesn’t always need to be made clear with words.

A special badge of courage however needs to go to Gina Gershon who plays Ansel’s current wife Sharla. It feels like it’s been a while since we have seen her in anything, and she is at her most unglamorous in “Killer Joe.” Her character thinks nothing of opening the front the front door without wearing anything from the waist down, and this is not to mention what McConaughey ends up making her do with a piece of fried chicken (I’ll let you witness that for yourself). Even as her character wears too much makeup to where her mascara runs down her face, making her look like a The Joker, Gershon gives a truly fearless performance as someone who thinks she’s better than the people around her. Of course, her character finds out in the worst way possible that she is not.

The one person however who really caught my eye was Juno Temple who portrays the youngest child of the Smith family, Dottie. You may remember Temple as Selina Kyle’s street smart friend from “The Dark Knight Rises,” and she makes Dottie a fascinating enigma. Her character is at times willfully innocent, seemingly naïve, but she actually becomes the only member of this trailer park family with any sort of intelligence. Temple is utterly beguiling in “Killer Joe,” and I look forward to seeing more of her in the future.

“Killer Joe” was already earning infamy before its release as the MPAA gave it the dreaded NC-17 rating which, at this point, it wears on its shoulder without apology. Did it earn that rating? Well, yes and no; this is certainly no movie to take your kids or impressionable teenagers to see. Then again, if “Killer Joe” were released by a major movie studio, it would have somehow gotten an R despite its content. Whatever you think this movie deserves the NC-17 rating or not, the hypocrisy of the MPAA remains maddening and never ending.

Friedkin has been leaving in the shadow of his most famous work for years as if no one would ever let him get past “The Exorcist,” “The French Connection” or even “Sorcerer.” The truth however is that he has not lost his talent in setting up scenes that have tremendous suspenseful impact. This is especially the case whenever McConaughey is onscreen because when he appears you know things are going to get really bad. Friedkin also is well served by his collaborators such as cinematographer Caleb Deschanel who finds a twisted beauty in such utter depravity, and composer Tyler Bates gives the movie’s most suspenseful and horrifying moments a strong atmospheric quality that makes the story all the more claustrophobic.

It’s hard to say where exactly “Killer Joe” will end up on William Friedkin’s long resume of work, but it is safe to say it is far more accomplished than other movies of his like “Deal of the Century,” “The Guardian” and “Jade.” With this film he gives willing audience members an experience that they will not easily forget, and he directs Matthew McConaughey to one of the best and most explosive performances of his career. Those in the mood for the most disturbing of black comedies should not pass “Killer Joe” up.

* * * ½ out of * * * *