Joker (2019)

Rating: 7/10 (9 October 2019)

Directed by Todd Phillips. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Frances Conroy, Zazie Beetz, Glenn Fleshler, Brett Cullen, Shea Whigham, Bill Camp, Leigh Gill, Sharon Washington, Marc Maron, Douglas Hodge, Bryan Tyree Henry. (R)
Character study/origin story of perhaps the most famous comic book villain of all, the Joker; here, he starts out as a mentally ill, somewhat sympathetic sadsack named Arthur Fleck, but then spirals out of control and becomes a disturbingly nihilistic nightmare-in-the-flesh, inspiring cult adulation from deranged crowds of protesters. Phillips' grim, uncompromising vision aims for gritty realism, though Fleck's psychology is distracted by heightened realism and hallucinatory imagination; Phillips makes no effort to distinguish between these two states, creating a point of view that is not only unreliable but also untrustworthy. This would have been more effective if there weren't also glaring plot holes and contrivances that degrade cogency (the broadcast airing of the stand-up act, Fleck sneaking into the theater unnoticed and unrestricted, etc.). The potent violence is telegraphed in advance, rendering its shock tactics clumsy and overwrought; if there's one thing that the Joker shouldn't be it is predictable. However, the cinematic craft, design, and frame composition is all high-quality--did anyone expect Phillips ("Old School," "The Hangover," et al) to have a movie like this in him?--and Phoenix's tour de force performance is attention-grabbing from his first cackle, refusing to let go even as the credits start to roll. Ambitious, flawed, harrowing, frustrating; it's as hard to conventionally "like" this film as it is to dismiss.
71/100