Directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover; Starsky & Hutch; Old School; School for Scoundrels) and starring Joacquin Phoenix (Her; Walk the Line; Gladiator; The Sisters Brothers; Mary Magdalene; The Master; Hotel Rwanda), Robert De Niro (The Godfather; Raging Bull; Silver Linings Playbook; The Deer Hunter; Taxi Driver; Cape Fear; The Intern) and Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2; Geostorm; Atlanta).
Thriller / Action Drama; 122 mins
An origins film that introduces / explains the character "The Joker" that appeared in various Batman films, and one that charts a character with an undefined mental illness until breaking point. But this is not a point where the subject breaks down and cries, it is when all his sense of being good, obeying the law and doing the right thing get thrown out the window...
Set in Gotham City, Arthur Fleck (Joacquin Phoenix) lives with, and cares for, his elderly and infirm mother. He has an affliction which causes him to laugh involuntarily, one which sets him aside from most others. He is employed part-time as a clown and tries stand-up comedy but is not very good at it. He befriends a neighbour, single mother Sophie Dumond (Zazie Beetz) who is both sympathetic towards him and also afraid of him in equal measure.
In this darkish drama, as the characters are being built, circumstances transpire that he loses his job. Around the same time he is in the audience of a TV chat-show with host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) when he is noticed and invited onto the stage. While the audience laughs at him for being middle-aged and still living with his mother, he is referred to as a "joke" and the show's producers and Murray Franklin subsequently invites him as a guest onto next week's show; by this time, other parts of his life are starting to unravel...
A lot has already been written about this film; Joacquin Phoenix puts in a phenomenal performance as the title character, but it is also how it links the various strands of the story together - both internal to the film's core storyline as well linking with other issues, namely Bruce Wayne - that is the main asset of this film which is filmed in a slightly less dark Gotham City than some of the Christian Bale "Batman" films, but this does have a superb script from which to work.
Yes, there is violence in the film, but it is certainly not the centrepiece. The storyline, cinematography and acting should be appreciated first and before any criticisms are levelled at other aspects...
Verdict: to be seen to make your own mind up.
