Nicolas Cage more than an average 'Joe' in Venice

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Director Juno Mak. (Domenico Stinellis / AP)

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Australian director Kitty Green, center (fourth from left), arrives with activists of the feminist protest group Femen for the screening of “Ukraina Ne Bordel” (Ukraine Is Not a Brothel). (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

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French actress Anna Mouglalis arrives for the screening of “La Jalousie.” (Tiziana Fabi / AFP/Getty Images)

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Italian actor Marco Bocci blows soap bubbles as he arrives for the screening of “La Jalousie.” (Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images)

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Polish director Andrzej Wajda receives the 2013 Premio Persol award at the Venice Film Festival. (Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images)

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Former Polish President Lech Walesa, center, and wife Danuta Golos arrive for the screening of “Walesa. Czlowiek z Nadziei” (Walesa. Man of Hope). With them are actress Agnieszka Grochowska, left, actor Robert Wieckiewicz and director Andrzej Wajda. (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

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Actress Marie Rosaria Omaggio, left, director Andrzej Wajda, actress Agnieszka Grochowska and actor Robert Wieckiewicz at the screening of “Walesa. Man of Hope.” (Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images)

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Actors Robert Wieckiewicz, left, Agnieszka Grochowska, director Andrzej Wajda and actress Maria Rosaria Omaggio attend the “Walesa. Man of Hope.” (Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images)

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Taiwan actors Lee Yi-Cheng, Lu Yi-Ching, director Tsai Ming-Liang, actors Lee Kang-Sheng, Lee Yi-Chieh and festival artistic director Alberto Barbera arrive for the premiere of “Jiaoyou” (Stray Dogs). (Andrea Merola / EPA)

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Italian director Gianfranco Rosi kneels before the cast of “Sacro GRA.” (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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A leaping director Gianfranco Rosi is encircled by the cast of “Sacro GRA.” (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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Italian actress and director Valeria Golino and actor Riccardo Scamarcio wait for a taxi boat. (Taziana Fabi / AFP/Getty Images)

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French director Philippe Garrel, left, with actors Esther Garrel and Louis Garrel during the photo call for “La Jalousie.” (Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images)

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Italian actress Geppi Cucciari arrives at the Lido. (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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British actress Rebecca Hall and Scottish actor Richard Madden are in “Une Promesse,” presented out of competition at the festival. (Tiziana Fabi / AFP / Getty Images)

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Alan Rickman poses is featured in “Une Promesse,” which is showing out of competition at the festival. (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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Alberto Barbera, director of the Venice Film Festival, blows soap bubbles before the screening of “L’Intrepido.” (Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images)

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Italian actress Valeria Solarino arrives for the premiere of “L’inteprido.” (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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Scarlett Johansson arrives for the screening of “Under the Skin.” (Tiziana Fabi / AFP / Getty Images)

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Italian actor Luca Argentero starring in “Pazze Di Me” at the Venice Film Festival. (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

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Japanese actor Haruma Miura, from left, cartoonist-animator Leiji Matsumoto and director Shji Aramaki at a photo call for “Harlock: Space Pirate.” (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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Israeli actress Yuval Scharf, left, and Israeli director Amos Gitai arrive for the screening of “Ana Arabia.” (Tiziana Fabi / AFP / Getty Images )

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South Korean actors Lee Eun-woo, left, and Seo Young-ju at a photo call for feature film “Moebius.” (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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French actress and jury member Virginie Ledoyen waits for a taxi boat at the Excelsior Hotel. (Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images)

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Actor Colin Firth and Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport at the Chopard photo call at Palazzo del Casino. (Andreas Rentz / Getty Images)

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French actress Virginie Ledoyen at the Chopard photo call at Palazzo del Casino. (Andreas Rentz / Getty Images)

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Actor Tom Hardy at the “Locke” premiere. (Andreas Rentz / Getty Images)

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French actress Melanie Thierry and American director Terry Gilliam arrive for the screening of “The Zero Theorem.” (Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images)

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British actor David Thewlis arrives for the screening of “The Zero Theorem.” (Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images )

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Canadian director Xavier Dolan and actress Evelyne Brochu at the screening of “Tom a la Ferme.” (Ettore Ferrari / EPA )

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Italian director Andrea Pallaoro, from left, Colombian actress Catalina Sandina Moreno and Irish actor Brian O’Byrne at a photo call for “Medeas.” ( Claudio Onorati / EPA )

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Actor James Franco signs autographs as he walks the red carpet for the film “Palo Alto” at the Venice Film Festival. (Andrew Medichini / Associated Press)

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Daniel Radcliffe arrives for the screening of “Kill Your Darlings.” (David Azia / Associated Press)

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Actor Tom Welling arrives for the screening of “Parkland.” (Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images )

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Actress Dakota Fanning arrives for the screening of “Night Moves,” presented in competition at the 70th Venice Film Festival Venice Lido. (Tiziana Fabi / AFP / Getty Images)

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Actor Jesse Eisenberg arrives for the screening of “Night Moves” at the 70th Venice International Film Festival. (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

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Actors Scott Haze and James Franco during a photo call to promote the film “Child Of God” at the 70th Venice Film Festival. (Andrew Medichini / Associated Press)

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Actress Judi Dench arrives for the screening of the movie “Philomena” at the 70th Venice Film Festival. (Andrew Medichini / Associated Press)

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Actresses Mira Barkhammar, Liv LeMoyne and Mira Grosin, from left, pose during the photo call of “Vi Ar Bast!” (“We Are the Best!”) presented in the Orizzonti selection at the 70th Venice Film Festival. (Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images)

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Actress Francesca Cavallin attends the “Tracks” premiere. (Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images)

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Actress Mia Wasikowska walks the red carpet at the premiere of “Tracks.” (Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images)

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Italian actress Eva Riccobono blows bubbles on the red carpet. (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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Natalia Borges attends the premiere of “Tracks” at the Palazzo del Cinema. (Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images)

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Screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis, left, actor James Deen, director Paul Schrader and actress Tenille Huston attend a photo call for their film, “The Canyons.” (Ettore Ferrari / EPA )

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Italian actress Isabelle Adriani at the premiere of “Joe.” (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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Actresses Nicoletta Maragno, left, Roberta Da Soller, Maria Roveran and Lucia Mascino gather for photos at a premiere for their film, “Piccola Patria.” (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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Actor Nicolas Cage and his wife, Alice Kim, arrive for the premiere of “Joe.” (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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Nicolas Cage signs autographs and poses with fans at the “Joe” premiere. (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

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Carrie Fisher, a member of the Venice Film Festival jury, arrives for the premiere of “Gravity.” (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

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Matteo Ceccarini and Eva Riccobono, an Italian actress and model, attend the opening dinner of the Venice Film Festival at the Hotel Excelsior. (Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images)

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George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, the stars of “Gravity,” arrive for the film’s premiere at the 70th Venice Film Festival. (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

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Israeli model and actress Moran Atias arrives for the premiere of “Gravity” at the Venice Film Festival. (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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Marina Ripa di Meana arrives for the premiere of “Gravity” at the opening of Venice Film Festival. She has written several books and is well-known on Italian TV, and, oh, in case you didn’t notice, she’s wearing a birdcage around her head. (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

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Brazilian model and actress Natalia Borges arrives at the opening of the Venice Film Festival. (Claudio Onorati / EPA)

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Jury member Pablo Larrain attends the opening ceremony and “Gravity” premiere at the Venice Film Festival. (Andreas Rentz / Getty Images)

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Jury member Virginie Ledoyen attends the opening dinner of the Venice Film Festival. (Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images)

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Jury member Martina Gedeck attends the opening dinner at the Venice Film Festival. (Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images)

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Sandra Bullock poses with fans as she arrives for the opening ceremony of the Venice Film Festival and the screening of her film “Gravity.” (Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images)

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George Clooney arrives for the premiere of “Gravity” at the Venice Film Festival. (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

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George Clooney, Sandra Bullock and director Alfonso Cuaron attend the premiere of “Gravity” at the Venice Film Festival. (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

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Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci, the president of the Venice Film Festival jury, speaks onstage during the opening ceremony. (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

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Eva Riccobono, an Italian model and actress, and Venice Film Festival official Alberto Barbera welcome guests to the event. (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)

By Mark Olsen

Aug. 30, 2013 6:37 PM PT

Filmmaker David Gordon Green saw his “Prince Avalanche” premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and hit theaters in early August. So it may seem sudden for him to also being unveiling “Joe” with star Nicolas Cage at the Venice Film Festival this week ahead of also appearing soon in Toronto.

Adapted by Gary Hawkins from a 1991 novel by the late author Larry Brown, the film seems to find Green returning to the Southern Gothic of his “Undertow” mixed with the intense drama of “Snow Angels.” Regardless, it puts him clearly back in his roots of indie drama and away from the big-budget studio comedies such as “Pineapple Express” and “Your Highness” that he has made in recent years.

Cage plays a man who runs a crew of “tree poisoners” for a local lumber company, rendering healthy trees sick so they can be cut down. Cage’s Joe takes a young boy (Tye Sheridan) under his wing.

PHOTOS: Venice Film Festival 2013

In Variety, Justin Chang singled out Cage for his “excellent, tightly wound performance” while noting the film overall was “rich in rural texture but low on narrative momentum or surprise.”

For the Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney noted that “while its simmering violence and dread are sustained with impressive slow-burn conviction, the film will be too punishingly grim for many audiences.”

The film has also garnered numerous comparisons to Jeff Nichols’ “Mud,” in which Sheridan also appeared and which has been a surprise box office success this year. That could help the prospects for “Joe,” which is going into the fall festival circuit looking for distribution.

The film also marks the first and sadly last screen appearance for Gary Poulter, who plays the alcoholic father of Sheridan’s character. Green cast Poulter when the latter was living homeless on the streets of Austin, Texas, and Poulter passed away shortly after filming was finished.

Also:

Melancholy ‘Prince Avalanche’ comes out of nowhere

Scarlett Johansson goes ‘Under the Skin’ at Telluride

Telluride Film Festival dedicated to late film critic Roger Ebert

Follow Mark Olsen on Twitter: @IndieFocus