Small Crimes (2017)
Director: E.L Katz
Writer: E.L. Katz & Macon Blair
Starring: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau / Robert Forster / Jacki Weaver / Gary Cole / Mollie Parker
Run Time: 95 mins
Genre: Institutionalised
(IMDb)
Opening Image
Joe takes confession with a prisoner minister. He seems sincere in his desire to begin a new life until he is called to be released. When Joe reaches the door the minister asks if he would like to take communion. Joe’s demeanour changes. “No, I’m good,” he says, and leaves.
Theme Stated
“I have faith in you, Joe,” says the minister.
Set-Up
Joe returns home to unhappy memories and distant parents. He is estranged from his two daughters, abhorred by his ex-wife, and hated by the townspeople for the crime he was convicted for. Joe is a former police officer who disfigured a colleague with a knife while in a drunken rage. His old partner Billy also died in suspicious circumstances. Billy’s brother Scotty buys Joe his second drink in six years at the local bar before Joe is ambushed by his victim’s daughter and a group of her friends.
Catalyst
Joe is arrested and released following the ambush and is approached by Dan, a cop still as crooked as Joe used to be. He gives Joe a bundle of money and informs him that the man they used to work for, Manny, is having a crisis of conscience as his health deteriorates. Phil, the officer Joe disfigured with a knife, is nudging Manny towards a grand jury which means Joe and Dan are in serious danger of being locked up. Dan tells Joe to kill Manny to save them from the potential consequences of Manny’s confession. Joe left Phil breathing all those years ago. The responsibility lies with him.
Debate
Joe has to decide whether he wants to kill Manny and risk re-incarceration or let Manny confess which will probably lead to the same end. Rock and a hard place.
Break Into Two
Joe sees his mother, Irma, for the first time since his release. Tensions rise when she asks him what he plans to do for work. Joe mentions that she and his father Joe Sr don’t see their grandchildren anymore. Irma reminds him she has to see Phil every Sunday in church. The argument ends with Joe storming out and taking his father’s truck.
B-Story
Joe visits Manny’s house and tries to smother him but removes the pillow when the nurse, Charlotte walks in.
Fun and Games
Upon leaving the house Joe is confronted by Manny’s son Junior and warned to stay away. He takes a beating from Junior’s goons who chase him off the property.
Joe -accidentally or intentionally- bumps into Charlotte in a coffee house and secures a date with her.
He continues down the path of un-sobriety by drinking and doing cocaine while continuing to argue with his parents, Irma, especially.
Midpoint
Joe’s date with Charlotte ends with them lying naked in bed together. Charlotte sleeps with him despite knowing he is an ex-con and not a consultant as he claims. Joe tells her about the night he attacked Phil with a knife. She tells him, “I know what it means to need a second chance. False Peak.
Bad Guys Close In
Joe tells Dan about Junior’s interference with his plan. Manny will be difficult to reach again. Dan tells him to pursue Phil instead. Killing him will put a stop to the grand jury immediately.
Joe sneaks into Phil’s house at night and puts a gun to his head while he sleeps. Phil rolls over and Joe sees his entire torso is covered in deep, ridged scars. Joe appears to come to the conclusion he has done enough damage to the man and leaves.
Joe gets a call from his parole officer and entreats Scotty for a clean urine sample. Scotty asks Joe for details about his brother’s death but Joe disregards them.
Dan tasers Joe in a car park and drags him into his truck where he tells him since Phil is still alive, the grand jury is now in motion. He threatens Joe to come up with a solution to their problem.
All Is Lost
Joe comes home to find the money Dan gave him is missing. During the ensuing argument with his parents he finds out they have had a close relationship with his daughters the entire time he was in prison. They didn’t want Joe to ruin his children’s lives with his madness. As Joe rages around the living room a bullet comes through the window and hits Irma in the neck.
Dark Night of the Soul
In the hospital corridor father and son wait side-by-side. Joe Sr lays the blame for Irma’s plight at his son’s feet. “You bring mayhem with you, Joe.” Joe leaves the hospital.
Break Into Three
Joe goes to Charlotte’s house and confesses everything. He tells her he came to work for Manny after falling behind with his bookie, how he and Dan did terrible things, and that he will be given the death penalty if the grand jury goes ahead.
Finale
Charlotte takes it upon herself to smother Manny. Junior walks into the bedroom to find her hovering over his dead father.
Junior kidnaps Joe and takes him to his ‘playground’, a remote location where Charlotte is waiting.
Scotty arrives toting a rifle and slugging from a bottle of liquor. He rescues Joe but suffers several gunshot wounds. Joe looks inside a container in the ground; Junior’s ‘playground’. We are not privy to what he finds inside but the implication is he is looking at Charlotte’s body. On the way to the hospital Scotty admits it was he who fired into Joe’s house, almost killing his mother. He did so because of Joe’s involvement in his brother’s death. Joe parks the car on a hidden dirt path and leaves Scotty to die.
Joe returns home and finds his money. Joe Sr arrives. Joe says he is going to find his daughters and give them the cash. Joe Sr forbids him. Joe pushes him aside. Joe Sr snatches up a kitchen knife and drives it through his son’s stomach.
Final Image
Joe bleeds to death at the foot of the stairs.
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