David Gordon Green

David Gordon Green

David Gordon Green returns to the director's chair this week with new drama Joe.

Joe sees Green team up with Oscar winning actor Nicolas Cage for the first time, and sees him take a different change of direction.

We are use to seeing Green tackle comedy projects such as Pineapple Express and The Sitter in recent years, but this time around, he is taking on the indie drama.

Green kicked off his directing career back in at the end of the nineties with short films Pleasant Grove and Physical Pinball, before making the leap into feature film with George Washington.

George Washington hit the big screen in 200, and saw Green write and produce the project as well as direct.

The movie may have only got a small release, but it was a film that was met with a huge amount of praise from the critics. George Washington marked the arrival of Green and he really has not looked back since.

Over the next few years, Green was behind movies such as All The Real Girls, Undertow, and Snow Angels, as he moved between drama, romantic comedy, and thriller genres.

By the mid-noughties Green moved more into mainstream film as he tackled comedies Pineapple Express, You Highness and The Sitter.

Pineapple Express saw Green team up with producer Judd Apatow and actors Seth Rogen and James Franco.

Pineapple Express was one of the most outrageous and fun movies to hit the big screen in 2008, and it went on to gross over $100 million at the global box office.

Since then, The Sitter and Your Highness have been other comedy successes for the director, along with comedy TV series Eastbound & Down.

Eastbound & Down kicked off back in 2009 and has run for four successful seasons. The show was created by Ben Best, Jody Hill, & Danny McBride, while Green has served as director and producer.

More recently, we have seen Green move away from the mainstream projects and return to the indie films where he started.

He kicked that off with comedy/drama Price Avalanche, and now he is back with Joe.

Nicolas Cage takes on the central role in the film, and he is joined on the cast list by Tye Sheridan and Gary Poulter.

Joe is based on the novel by Gary Hawkins, and follows hard-living, hot-tempered, ex-con Joe Ransom, who is just trying to dodge his instincts for trouble - until he meets a hard-luck kid, (Sheridan) who awakens in him a fierce and tender-hearted protector.

Green is not the only one returning to indie film, as we see Cage return to his roots with this central role.

Green has already completed his new film project, as he has directing drama Manglehorn: a movie that sees him team up with Al Pacino.

Pacino takes on the central character and is joined on the cast list by Holly Hunter and Chris Messina. No U.S. or UK release date for the film has been announced.

During his career, Green has shown that he is a very versatile director who can tackle all and any genre. However, it is great to see him return to drama where it looks like he is going to thrive.

Joe is out now.


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
find me on and follow me on


Tagged in