JustinWolfe94476 If you remember the 1950's the schools then used corporal punishment as discipline, meaning if you misbehaved you got spanked in front of the class bare bottom, sometimes with a paddle, I personally was born in the 1980's however, since then the schools have gone away with corporal punishment as discipline and that has led the schools to go down hill. personally we need corporal punishment in schools including spankings for misbehaving, this is how you keep children in school well behaved, many European countries use corporal punishment in their schools including bare bottom spankings with a paddle, their schools are top rated internationally and well behaved children with strict consequences for misbehaving. The movie overall was pretty boring and slow, I would have blocked out the showing of the naked bottom of the boy getting spanked by his teacher, instead I would have shown the part where the teacher drops his pants and bend him over her knee, then I would have gone to the shot showing his face at an upward angle, eliminating showing any bare parts of the child's bottom, because today this would be considered explicit video of a minor, and in today's society that would be taken harshly by the police and child protective services. The movie i would rate 3 out of 10 stars, was an alright movie, i would not watch the movie again though.

dharper12 "Joe the King", was a king above the fools in the world.Adults have such a self centered way of the expectation of kid's motives and actions without considering the very basic situation they are coming from and this film confirms how stupid people really are. The school admin and teachers all knew very well about Joe's father, "you're just like your father", so the kid was labeled the first day he walked into that school as a loser. He was the school's scape goat.We like to believe our children are getting a constructive education and not a confession of home life humiliation. As a result, this wacko so-called teacher exercises her ego, hatred and anguish of her own life on his bare butt by spanking him in front of a shocked audience of classmates. Corporal punishment is sick but I guarantee mental tearing a child apart in front of peers happens everyday and is the most devastating of all. Sadly enough, Joe gets no support from mom or dad; just more emotional gouging. Gets me thinking, there are no bad kids, mainly bad adults who take their disappointed failures in their own lives out on less powerful people, especially kids.But you see how resilient Joe is. He just goes on living by his own kind of structure and I'm thinking, he's gonna blow, throughout the movie, but he is amazing. This kid had great potential, he just needed support, understanding, involvement and trust.We all need to stop and listen, there is a little bit of Joe in all of us.

director_lequoc I've seen this film in Cinematheque - the best Cinema in Hanoi.A little boy who named Joe make me think about my neighbor. He's a wild boy, he stolen, he's smart, he's scoundrel...He was my friend when i was young.After that, i didn't know about him...He seemed to be a criminal.But he' not a bad man. I can affirm. Sometimes, when i was a filmmaker, i wanted to build my character like him, like my friend. But I couldn't. Until i saw this film, i cried. Cried for my friend and for me.Over me this film impressed so much ! I don't know why this film don't get so many marks.I think it's not a worse film, maybe it got some trouble about slangs.

me43 In the past 24 hours I've read "The Body" then watched "Stand By Me"; read "Sleepers" then went to rent the film at a local store. I spent a good while searching for their one copy, then drifted to the comedy section to pick up something light for afters. Spying a film with Kilmer's name on the cover, I picked up "Joe The King", & wondered if Kilmer'd gone back to his comedy roots. Ha! The only thing funny is how some joker stashed this stale downer in the comedy section!I popped in the video after finishing Sleepers and was amazed to find myself watching yet another decade of tortured boyhood. 50's, 60's, 70's, none of it fit in a "Happy Days" world. Now, thirty years on, and I wonder what horror stories the 80's and 90's have bred and who will get the funding to tell us all about it."Joe the King" doesn't quite work, for several reasons, least of which is the fact we can't really feel for him. Where are the likable characters? In every life, there are some, and films demand at least one or two. In this film, all the adults are mean or obtuse, oblivious to anyone but themselves. Whaley gave us stereotypes and the actors weren't challenged beyond them. John Leguizamo's character is a bright spot, but realism is blown by him not taking the kid's age into account. In real life he wouldnta talked to him like a balling, boozing buddy, the kid looks to be only 12 or so. Ethan Hawke could have made a difference if he had put in a little effort... showing his sandaled feet bypasses character development, implying warmth and understanding, but the gimmick is wasted by the flatness of his character. His not knowing what "pithy" means blows his credibility as an educated man in a position of power in a school. Gimme a break!Some scenes are heavy-handed, some merely sketched. (And what is the deal with Kilmer's mega-elbow?? It is framed for viewing, so why?) The level of back talk and profanity is also wrong for the era. Kids mighta had filthy mouths with each other, but exchanges with adults would have left them dusting off their pants after a quick trip to the floor. The title is not explained, and there is nothing at all to suggest why Joe is a King. His peeing in the food makes scant sense when he doesn't even tell his brother about it to ease his suffering. Music could have been a saving grace, but it is barely explored. This is a depressing film that may have exorcised somebody's demons, at least I hope it did. Basically, though, this film lacks respect, for its characters, its premise, and ultimately, for us.