By Brent Hannon
If you have ever wondered about the existence of a secret feud between two sects of people then this movie may be for you. Billie Bob Joe (directed by Joe Kowalski) is a dramatic comedy about two step sisters and their journey through the process of creating a documentary on what turns out to be a very taboo subject. Billie Jessup (Bridget Messaros) is making a film about a long standing struggle between the Joes and the Bobs of the world. It is a confrontation that has been going on since the year 1775. There are two secret societies dedicated to this, the society for the revolution of Joes over Bobs, and the society for the revolution of Bobs over Joes. Billie’s step sister Custodia (Macey Heslet) does everything she can to help out. Soon Billie sends Custodia off to recruit Drexel (Danny Kosco) as their cameraman. It turns out that he is more of a sound guy, but he has a brother Sam (Sam Kosco) who is a cameraman. The four of them embark on a very weird adventure into a world that is virtually unheard of, except of course to the Joes and the Bobs.
What I did enjoy about this movie is that it definitely did not take itself seriously. From the start it’s obvious that this is a farce. It has a fairly eclectic mix of music that suits it’s style well. The editing was decent though a few times the fades seemed a to last a little too long. There were also music montage segments that, while they were fun, seemed out of place with the rest of the film. These occurred while the four film makers walked from place to place during the film.
This wasn’t a film that I could get into unfortunately. While there was little time wasted in presenting the subject matter of the film, I felt that it took a while for it to get up to pace. Billie Bob Joe is around one hour and forty-five minutes long, so any time wasted is a missed opportunity to engage the audience. I understand the direction this movie was going for, but it felt like there was a lack of depth to it, a lack of detail to bring the four main characters deep into a bizarre world, and a lack of commitment to show what lengths either side goes to in order to come out on top.
Rating: 3/10
