Joe's So Mean to Josephine on AllMovie

Writer/director Peter Wellington's Joe's So Mean to Josephine tracks the slow unraveling of a dysfunctional relationship. Josephine (Sarah Polley from Go), a smart but immature college girl living in Toronto, is out drinking with some friends when she sees Joe (Eric Thal) sitting at the bar. Joe is cute, wears a leather jacket, and seems quite unfriendly. Josephine is intrigued enough to smile at Joe as he leaves the bar. Joe ignores her. The next morning, Josephine wakes up to find Joe in her kitchen, arguing with her mother (Dixie Seatle). It turns out that when Joe's not earning an extra dollar illegally wiretapping phone lines, he works as a telephone repairman. Josephine approaches him and introduces herself. He doesn't seem particularly interested. Later, Josephine steps out of a bar and sees Joe waiting for his hapless partner-in-crime, Mike (Canadian indie superstar Don McKellar). Joe is pretty cold to her, but this time, he invites her out to eat. She's nervous, but delighted, and ends up going home with him. After their tryst, she shows up at his job, and then at his apartment, and she buys a goldfish for his empty aquarium. He seems sick of her, and treats her rudely. She tells him off and leaves, which he likes. When she returns later, he's nicer to her, and they start dating again. But when they run into some of her friends from the newspaper where she works, Joe's rude to them, and the two argue. Eventually, Josephine moves out of her parents' house, and in with her friend, Mona (Waneta Storms). Her budding writing career starts coming together, and Joe feels threatened by her success. She tries to break up with him, but finds he's not so easy to get rid of.