If the premise of "Joker" wasn't so bizarre and over-the-top, one would conclude that this film was a biopic--it was delineated that painstakingly realistic. As being the film to kick off the 'end of the year' film season, this was one to give you a kick in the teeth. While we have superhero films galore, this expose of the origin of the Joker is stunning as it is disturbing.
The year is 1981. "Joker" centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone fictional story not seen before on the big screen. Todd Phillips' exploration of Arthur Fleck, who is indelibly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, is of a man struggling to find his way in Gotham's fractured society. A clown-for-hire by day, he aspires to be a stand-up comic at night...but finds the joke always seems to be on him. Caught in a cyclical existence between apathy and cruelty, Arthur makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events in this gritty character study.
Living with his depressed, sick mother Penny (Frances Conroy) and working at a dead-end job with co-workers Randall (Glenn Flesher) and Gary (Leigh Gill), Fleck just can't seem to be in a place to succeed, until he decides to attend the talk show Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) as an audience member. Because of an outburst of Arthur's, it catches the attention of Franklin and makes Arthur feel important. But as everything in his life that starts off promising, it soon spirals out of control into a sea of destruction.
Others to round out the cast are Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond, Brett Cullen as Thomas Wayne, Shea Whigham as Detective Burke, Bill Camp as Detective Garrity, Josh Pais as Hoyt Vaughn, Sharon Washington as Social Worker and Frank Wood as Dr. Stoner.
This was gut-wrenchingly directed by Todd Phillips ("Frat House" (documentary) '98, "Old School" '03, "Starsky & Hutch" '04, "The Hangover" '09, "Due Date" '10, "The Hangover Part II" '11, "The Hangover Part III" '13, "War Dogs" '16) plus others, a video short and a TV movie. This director seems to be as eclectic as his star in this. He has done it all: comedy, drama, action, documentary. He's a director that will not allow himself to be pigeon-holed hence his resume. No matter what the genre, the intensity he adds to his projects has a definite distinction to his work, this film being of no exception. The nuances of despair and desperation in Phoenix's Joker was underlying and powerful all at the same time and even though Phoenix is an incredible actor, this takes talented direction. This is also well thought out by writer Phillips (all above films except the documentary) and his co-writer being Scott Silver (""Johns" '96, "The Mod Squad" '99, "8 Mile" '02, "The Fighter" '10, "The Finest Hours" '16). This was an incredible expose of the slow-burning build of a psychopath replete with a distraught and horrendous upbringing, being the brunt and whipping post of society and not able to succeed at most anything in his life. The way that Phillips and Silver delineated this story was incredibly well-crafted and even though it was a tough sit, was a character study to beat all. This screenplay had many layers that were unpeeled like an onion and defined exactly how Arthur Fleck became that villainous character we all have come to know as the Joker. Other than a couple of very small places of slowness, this script was rock solid. Phoenix is an actor that is like a chameleon--he never shies away to portray any role if it deems artistic and challenging, and this I respect in spades. He will undoubtedly be nominated come Oscar time. Whether he wins, time will tell.
Even though this is based on the DC comic, this is definitely not a 'superhero' movie. This is an all telling of what went on in the mind of a psychopath that is both revealing and chilling. It is a well-crafted American film with amazing directing, writing acting and even costume design by veteran Mark Bridges. This film can be studied by both film and psychology students--it is that exhaustive. This is not as entertaining as much as it is artistic, but I believe this was purposed.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: R 122mins.
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