The Last Rites of Joe May (2011)
By Paul Cogley
We meet Joe May as he is being released from a stay at Cook
County Hospital after a bout of pneumonia. Once outside, Joe learns that life
in his small corner of the West Side of Chicago has gone right on without him.
Wherever he goes, he hears the same thing:
“Joe May! I thought you were dead!”
In a very short time, Joe finds himself without an apartment
or a car. Or, for that matter, a best friend, since his buddy Billy (Chelcie
Ross) entered a senior home and wants nothing to do with life on the outside.
Joe becomes another of the aging homeless men spending nights on a bus bench.
Dennis Farina gives a stunning performance as the
sixty-something Joe May, a washed-up, smalltime hustler who will get one last
chance to make something of his life.
That last chance comes from Jenny Rapp (Jamie Anne Allman)
and her seven-year-old daughter, Angelina (Meredith Droeger). They have
recently moved into the apartment that was Joe’s home for 40 years. Finding Joe
on a bench on a cold winter night, Jenny takes pity on him and invites him to
stay the night.
While I was watching that scene I thought how unlikely it
was for a single woman in her position to take such a risk with a virtual
stranger. However, as the movie later reveals, Jenny has a pattern of putting
herself in risky situations with men without learning the lessons she needs to
learn.
Joe and Jenny become friends. No romance develops. In fact,
when Jenny asks Joe for a hug in a crisis moment, Joe simply says, “That
wouldn’t be a good idea.” End of subject.
Joe’s relationship with the seven-year-old daughter Angelina
grows significantly. Joe’s most endearing trait is keeping pigeon coops on the
roof of the apartment building. The care of the pigeons becomes a natural
bonding activity for an old man and young girl.
Joe Maggio, who wrote and directed The Last Rite of Joe May layered symbolism and metaphors throughout
the film’s screenplay. One would be the girl’s name, Angelina. She is indeed
like an angel who Joe can share his passion for pigeons with and learn to
become her protector.
Another metaphor would be Joe’s pigeons, which are
meaningful to Joe in a way similar to the pigeons that Marlon Brando tended as
the longshoreman Terry Malloy in On the
Waterfront. Both stories are in essence stories about redemption and
justice. In Waterfront Terry was a
confused hustler who was transformed into a self-sacrificing protector
champion. In The Last Rites of Joe May,
we will see Joe transform from a confused hustler as he faces a similar
challenge.
That challenge comes from the presence of Stanley Buczkowski
(Ian Barford), Jenny’s stalking, abusive boyfriend, who is also a bad cop.
The movie relies a bit too much on overly-familiar cinematic
techniques in order to build up the sense of tension needed for the finale.
Nevertheless, I was satisfied it lived up to its title. The Last Rite of Joe May is, on many levels, a deeply moving
movie.
*The Last Rites of Joe
May has adult content, including strong language and violence.
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