Joe the King was the directorial debut of long-time career supporting actor and occasional indie leading man Frank Whaley, who also wrote the script based partly on his own life.

It stars Noah Fleiss in the title role, Karen Young, John Leguizamo, Whaley’s friend and frequent collaborator Ethan Hawke, Camryn Manheim, Max Ligosh, a very young Kate Mara, and Whaley’s The Doors co-star, the late Val Kilmer. as Joe’s abusive alcoholic father.

Critics were kind of all over the place about Joe the King, a film very much of its time, although the performances, especially those of Fleiss and Kilmer, were widely praised.

Joe the King was given a very limited release on October 15, going on to gross just $60,000, but a few those dollars once belonged to our guest for this episode, Zaki Hasan, who actually saw it in a movie theater 26 years ago.

Zaki is is a professor, award-winning writer, and film critic for, among other things, the San Francisco Chronicle.

You can find him on Bluesky @zakiscorner