"This IS not America" aka "King of Comedy.

Rating: 8/10 (15 October 2019)

This is part of the DC comics batman franchise. Although it clearly isn't. It is a study of Arthur Fleck a man who needs help, who need support, in an America in which the poor have nothing not even health care and the rich have, well everything. The root of Arthur's mental health problems is the abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother's boyfriend. Now 30 odd years later he gets by trying to make it as a stand up comedian paying his way as a promotional clown. Earning enough money to care for his ailing mother. She is delusional thinking that Thomas Wayne of Wayne Foundation is the father. He isn't or maybe he is.
Arthur's failed attempts at comedy bringing him to the attention of Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) .....I will leave the plot there (no spoilers)
What we get in the two hours plus is a modern study of the collapse of a caring society and the further collapse into madness of Arthur.
This is 21st America with the clowns running the country and the mental health of its citizens not cared for by a society who puts profits before care. ( a somewhat simplified view I know, but a true reflection)
In Arthur Fleck, who later calls himself Joker, played in an Oscar worthy performance by Joaquin Pheonixs. Arthur joins the great misguided villians who are battling their inner demons. He joins Rupert Pupkin ( De Niro in King of Comedy which the plot takes reference from throughout) Geoff Tibbs as desperate comedians to be. Although the battle with mental illness mirrors Norman Bates in his act of Matricide. For sheer evil Arthur is up there with Larry from Irvine Walsh's Acid House
Notable mentions have to go to the soundtrack which sets the film in a dark light. The strings throughout cut through the darkness and set Arthur's descent into madness perfectly. Frank Sinatra never sounded so jaded and apt on "That's Life" and a masterful "Send in the Clowns". Gary Glitter's "Rock n Roll part 2"fits Arthur's ongoing fight with his demons . (Glitter isn't known in the USA for his odious crimes, like he is in the UK) Cream's White Room also seems apt when Arthur is being taken away by the police.
Overall the film is a masterpiece and for a major studio to produce a film so dark as to be commended.