Directed by Todd Phillips (yeah the guy who directed the Hangover)
Release Date: October 4th, 2019
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beets, Frances Conroy, Robert De Niro, Brett Cullen
SPOILERS AHEAD
Ok, I don’t even know where to start so here’s my best shot at explaining Joker.
That’s how my head feels after watching Joker, but in a good way. But also a bad way. Holy shit this movie.
Before I try and break down its positives and negatives, to the mom who brought your three kids to see Joker last night… what the hell is wrong with you? And also, this chick was laughing at the most inappropriate times in the movie. She should be catapulted to the top of the FBI’s most wanted list.
Ok, let’s do our best:
Positives
- Full blown-depression throughout this movie. Whether you liked it or not, the movie hit what it was trying do right on the psychologically damaged head. There was not one time where I laughed, and I think if you laughed at anything after 20 minutes into the film you might be psychotic. Even the part where Arthur kills the big guy in his apartment, and the little person can’t reach the lock on the door to get out. That wasn’t a spot you’re supposed to laugh at. In another setting, yeah that might be funny, but not in that spot in this movie. The movie did an incredible job making me depressed.
- Piggybacking off of the first point, the tone is sadistically beautiful. Dark lighting, evil sounding background music and awkward moments stacked on awkward moments. I mean, the first scene of the movie, when he is putting his makeup and shedding a tear while forcing a smile, was a moment where I went “oh shit, this really is gunna be a twisted nightmare-ish movie.” And then when he is doing his stand up routine and the audience’s silent, cringe reaction is deafening.
- Joaquin Phoenix. Joaquin goddamnned Phoenix. JOAQUIN PHOENIX. His laugh, his facial expressions, his soft toned voice, his movement, all those dance moves… it’s all so perfect. His performance is right up there with Ledger. Which is saying something.
- It’s a mind f***. If you try to analyze what’s going on and take a deep dive into the mind of Arthur Fleck, you will be sucked into a criminally sad state of mind. There were many moments that were “oh my god” moments, but when the movie turned on a dime, for me, was when we find out his relationship with Sophie was in his head. Bone chilling. Mind paralysis.
- Seeing Fleck progressively move towards his breaking point is sooooo nuts. I could lay out a timeline of all the moments that influenced Fleck’s breaking point and all of them combine to work sooooo well together towards the demise of Fleck and the creation of Joker. The kids beat down of Fleck, him getting ridiculed over his laugh on the bus by that mom, Fleck getting fired and Fleck getting bullied on the train. AND THEN, the dark crimes add up: the bus murder, suffocating his mother (after finding the adoption twist), killing that fat dude, and then…
- The finale. The Murray Franklin show. Oh my god. The story comes full circle. He wanted Franklin to be a dad to him. He found out Franklin brought him on to laugh at him. It’s the final, twisted, sensational straw. Joker shoots Robert f****ng DeNiro in the face on live television and sends Gotham into anarchy. Good lord.
- Speaking of coming full circle, how about the first scene of the movie is Fleck forcing a smile by pulling his lips up and one of the last scenes is painting his own blood on his face to create a smile. Full circle.
- Fleck’s scenes with the social workers is strong too. When he calls out the first social worker that she never listens to him, it kinda says something about how mental health can be dealt with. I can’t go any further into it because I’ve never dealt with serious depression but it makes a powerful statement.
- LAST POINT: when he tells the social worker she wouldn’t get the joke… I got chills from that. That was full-blown Joker-getting a laugh out of Bruce Wayne becoming an orphan… like he was….
Negatives
- On one hand, all the sick, twisted psychological warfare is great and exactly what the movie intended… but on a personal level it was soooo much to handle I almost felt sick after it lol. So it’s kind’ve a pro/con that it was sooo dark. Driving home last night, I couldn’t stop thinking about how twisted and uncomfortable I felt. I need to watch some cupcake Marvel movies.
- I’m stealing this from Zach Dwyer, but I wish we would’ve avoided the Wayne’s murders at the end. The movie could’ve just insinuated their deaths and I would have been fine with it. It took some of the sick feeling I had for most of the movie away. It would’ve been awesome to cut from the Murray show to the riot shots and didn’t need the Wayne deaths… for the billionth time.
- Was there a small feeling of an awkward flow in the movie? It feels, like, maybe… but my head is so screwed up at the end of this review that I don’t even know! Did anybody else feel the flow was just a tad off…
Overall Grade: A
Amazingly disturbing. I loved it. I’m gunna throw some Power Rangers on to combat what I just saw.
AceSite 