Joker
Joaquin Phoenix goes full Clown Prince of Crime in Phillips' stylish crime drama, but it’s not enough to mask the sense of emptiness at Joker’s core.
One would be forgiven for assumingJokeropened in theaters a month ago , evaluate by all the headlines it ’s made in recent week . Todd Phillips ' DC amusing script adjustment ( which exists separate from theJustice Leaguemovies ) was haled as a masterpiece following its Venice Film Festival premiere in August , which then led to a predictable backlash and an every bit unsurprising rebound tothatbacklash . In verity , the discussion surroundingJokeris , in many way , more meaningful than the actual film - itself , a body of work of grimdark storytelling that oscillates from haunting character subject area to the cinematic combining weight of LEGO Batman ’s " Untitled Self Portrait " ( but without the sarcasm ) . Joaquin Phoenix goes full Clown Prince of Crime in Phillips ' stylish offense drama , but it ’s not enough to mask the good sense of emptiness atJoker ’s core .
Phoenix stars inJokeras Arthur Fleck , a clown for hire who spends his days dealing with a neurologic upset ( one which causes him to spontaneously laugh ) , handle for his invalid mother Penny ( Frances Conroy ) , trying to become a professional standup comic , and scramble to get by unhurt on the mean street of Gotham City circa the other eighties ( or sometime around then ) . He ’s also obsessed with later - Nox talking show host Murray Franklin ( Robert De Niro ) and starts to develop feelings for Sophie Dumond ( Zazie Beetz ) , a single mother who lives just down the hall from his and Penny ’s apartment . But as lonely and cruel as Arthur ’s day-after-day existence can be , he still manages to get by and advert onto the hope that tomorrow will be well . That is , until , one bad selection sends him down a dark route from which there may be no escape .
It ’s no underground thatJoker- which Phillips also wrote with Scott Silver ( 8 Mile , The Fighter ) - draw inspiration from Martin Scorsese films likeTaxi DriverandThe King of Comedy , as well as likewise gritty character play from the ' 70 and ' 80s ( One Flew Over the Cuckoo ’s NestandA Clockwork Orangebeing two celebrated examples ) . But as the moving picture continues to borrow more and more from those classics , be it one - off moments or even specific shots , it starts to seem less like homage and more likeJokeris merely recycling these element without tot much of anything Modern to them . The thematic darkness inJokeralso feels superficial in a direction that it did n’t in those dramas , as far as its social comment goes . That ’s not to say the film does n’t have anything on its mind ; at dissimilar points , it acknowledge issues related to the wealth opening , celebrity adoration , accelerator violence , and gender - based entitlement ( and no , it ’s not an " incel film " ) . Even so , giving a chapeau - gratuity to these problems is n’t the same as saying something - or , inJoker ’s case , anything- about them .
One could validly contend that ’s the point : Joker does n’t believe in anything , so why should a pic about his development and severalise from his linear perspective believe in anything , either ? Not least of all , a celluloid where Phoenix gets to rightfully let loose , trip the light fantastic wildly in slow - motion ( enough so to make a boozing game out of those panorama ) , and dig deeply into the mentality of a fictional character who ’s cover headspring to foot in cicatrice both psychological and strong-arm . Phoenix’sJokerperformance is indeed as transformative and terrorize as former parole of lip would have you conceive , but the film is n’t really indisputable what to do with it . Whereas dramas likeThe MasterandYou Were Never Really Hereused Phoenix ’s acting method to make viewers truly sit down with his character ' injury , Jokeris too often shamed of getting catch up in the spectacle of watching him go off the rail . It ’s dark and perturbing , sure , but mostly for its own sake .
As messy as the film is on a deeper level , it ’s perhaps equally impressive on the surface . The filming by Phillips ' trusted DP Lawrence Sher brings Arthur ’s home to sumptuously grimy , grubby lifespan , withChernobylcomposer Hildur Guðnadóttir ’s gloomy and ominous score imbuing the whole matter with an air of operatic doomsday . And of course , the production invention by Mark Friedberg ( If Beale Street Could Talk ) and costumes from Mark Bridges ( Phantom Thread ) are essential in allowing the moving-picture show ’s setting to fire the humanity of an factual ' 70s or ' fourscore movie without seeming kitschy . Still , asJokermoves further along and begins thresh one game twist after another at the rampart ( some of which are quite predictable , others of which are just bleak and nihilistic ) , the film starts to feel more and more like a victory of panache over substance .
At the end of the day , Jokercomes off as Scorsese - lite in the same way that Phillips ' last movie , War Dogs , did - albeit , with great acting from Phoenix to elevate it , but also a horse sense of self - earnestness that border on ego - parody and pretension thatWar Dogsdid not have . It ’s no surprisal the photographic film has been divisive so far ; where some will see thick layers of substance and function to its storey , others will see a laughable book movie that ’s almost juvenile in the way it tries to convert viewers it ’s more grounded and " realistic " than other Batman - related projects before it ( a highly debatable belief at well ) . Whichever side of the fence one falls on ( unless they ’d choose to simply sit in the eye ) , there ’s sure a lot to talk about when it comes toJoker . That the discussion might be more interesting and worthwhile than the movie itself , though , is state in its own way .
TRAILER
Jokeris now playing in U.S. theaters . It is 122 minutes long and is rated R for strong bloody fierceness , disturbing behavior , language and brief intimate picture .
direct by Todd Phillips , Joker is an blood line story for Batman ’s most iconic villain . Arthur Fleck ( Joaquin Phoenix ) is a down - on - his - luck clown who is trying to become a successful viewpoint - up comedian . When thing do n’t go allot to plan , and Arthur feel Gotham is persecute him and others with mental illness , Arthur sparks a violent revolution within the metropolis .
Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker is an origin story for Batman’s most iconic villain. Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is a down-on-his-luck clown who is trying to become a successful stand-up comedian. When things don’t go according to plan, and Arthur feels Gotham is oppressing him and others with mental illness, Arthur sparks a violent revolution within the city.
