JOE (1970)

"I saw a fella selling junk to children. He gets nervous every time I pass.  Cause he knows that if I catch him. I'm gonna bust his head and kick his fat ass."

There was a time when the younger generation was feared by the older one.  A revolution against old out-dated ways of thinking was in full swing, the old values that had been held onto as examples of what was good with America were crumbling away.  It was in this atmosphere, where people feared their own children, that a film like JOE was spawned and probably hit a familiar chord with audiences of the early 70's.  This film basically encapsulates and puts a face on the struggle, at the time, between conservative and liberal forces and the old vs. the young.  Peter Boyle is great, as always, as the title character who sets the template for Archie Bunker in his racist/bigoted views.  His rambling diatribe of hate speech("look at this shitting music") when we first meet him in some crap-hole bar is amazing and I love to play just that scene completely out of context for friends and unsuspecting guests.  It's always a hit and leaves people with that "what the fuck did I just witness"-look.  This was also Susan Sarandon's first film and we get to see her naked in a bathtub which is a nice little treat.  Seen today this movie will certainly  not have the same resonance it did back in the days of hippie marches and free love orgies due to the dated nature of lots of its scenes but it's a nice view back to a time when the youth had something that hasn't been seen by anyone in a long time, the power to actually change things and the fear that set loose.  All in all it's a fine example of a unique smack-taking, Easter-orgy lovin', junkie-abusing, hippie death trip of a film.