117 minute running time so they could have trimmed 17 minutes off, but I liked this one … really good. A lot of people think Nic Coppola is a terrible actor, but it isn’t true, in the right role he can be near perfect. Rural Texas white trash tale, but well done … I don’t know why I didn’t hear about this one before now. Green rating, recommended.

Made by the same guy who did “George Washington,” which I wasn’t thrilled with. The misery and poverty and hopelessness works in “Joe” because it’s ultimately a story about redemption (and a boy’s courage), which wasn’t the case with “George Washington.”

Resigned to his fate…. “Your family's all you got.“