Joseph Aaron "Joe" Carnahan - an American film producer, screenwriter, actor, and independent director - was born in the last spring month of 1969 in Delaware. The future luminary of the director spent his youth and youth in Detroit (Michigan) and the town of Fairfield, lost in the sunlit expanses of California. He began his creative career, like many other now famous movie makers, in the field of advertising, simultaneously making short films.
Big movie debut
Joe Carnahan literally broke into the world of big cinema in 1998 with the debut of a tough, funny and extremely realistic comedy-action movie in the Australian style called “Blood, arrogance, bullets and gasoline” (IMDb: 5.50). The director managed to make a film for mere pennies, attracted little-known actors to the project, even played the role of one of the central characters.
But even with a deplorable budget of $ 7,300 and a group of extras Joe Carnahan, whose films are now known to every movie fan, managed to shoot a very decent movie. A picture with such a long name and currently looks quite relevant in terms of shooting quality, editing and concept. But more of the flattering reviews deserved the script of the tape, which also wrote Karnakhan. Already in his debut authorial project, Joseph Aaron presented to the audience a fascinating story with a famously twisted climax and bright, high-quality characters.
Narc
In 2002, Joe Carnahan, whose filmography as a director has only 8 films, in a record time (for some 28 days) removes the thriller Narc (IMDb: 7.20). The film with the light hand of domestic localizers, clearly overdone with the translation of the name, was released in the Russian Federation as "Drug Baron".
The second project of the director is a cross between a police drama and an action-packed thriller. According to experts, its main advantage is the realism of the story, the highest quality visualization and torn editing with regularly appearing multi-frame inserts. For the perception of a wide audience, the tape is very complex. The ambiguous heroes and the almost complete absence of dynamics are interesting only for a narrow category of viewers who prefer proceedings in the motives of the characters, carefully perceiving and analyzing what is happening on the screen.
Non-Stop Action
Joe Carnahan earned worldwide popularity in 2006 after the release of the action movie Trump Aces (IMDb: 6.70), which critics called the “explosive mixture.” Inspired by the work of leading contemporary directors Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino, the director directed an uneven, but amazingly fascinating crime drama with a whole gallery of talented performers and a furious action. Carried away by the filming process, the director personally took part in the creation of the film, his cameo became the role of one of the masked robbers at the beginning of the picture.
Screen adaptation of the series
Fairly assessing the professionalism and skill of the director, Hollywood producers Stephen J. Cannell and Jules Daily entrusted the direction of the first big-budget film project to Carnahan. It was adapted to the present adaptation of the most popular television film of the 80s - “Team A” (IMDb: 6.80). Comedy thriller caused a lot of fierce debate and failed at the box office.
Meanwhile, the most remarkable thing in the film according to the recognition of filmmakers was that Joe Carnahan was not shy about his sincere, somewhat childish attitude to the movie. Watching the adventures of the “team” is not only interesting, but also really fun. Excessive pathos and unrealistic stunts are brightened up with a fair amount of humor and a vigorous development of the plot. In general, the adaptation of the television movie was a success, so the director, with a clear conscience, proceeded to the next project, whose budget was much more modest than Team A ($ 25,000,000 versus $ 110,000,000).
Purely male movie
The thriller with Liam Neeson in the title role was to the taste of a wide audience and demanding film critics. The rating of “Fights” according to IMDb was 6.80. Choosing the R limit as the age limit, that is, viewers under 17 years old must watch an adult when watching, the director did not fail. In the drama that is being played on the screen, one after the other is extremely cruel, but not nauseatingly naturalistic episodes. The director skillfully maintains the rhythm of the narrative, diluting tense situations with philosophical monologues about the magical power of sincere love and the meaning of being, if necessary.
In the thriller “Scramble”, Joe Carnahan, correctly prioritizing and correctly focusing on the necessary nuances (in the movie there is not a single character of the fair sex with the exception of women popping up in the memories of male heroes), achieved the highest intensity of emotions with a minimum amount of cost.
At the moment, the director is busy filming the third part of the canonical comedy thriller "Bad Guys", whose premiere is scheduled for 2018.