Grim, artistic and deadly cautionary tale-Joker is good but not super

Rating: 7/10 (23 October 2019)

Released AFTER rave reviews, with much fanfare and a deceptive buildup (the trailers only showed Joker as a victim) Joker is many things. A good piece of art and storytelling, a depressing cautionary tale, a moral sewer that is also entertaining, a dark harbinger of things to come as more ... We also have a cynical directors effort where he stole several previous films ideas (Taxi Driver, Falling Down, others)....In Joker we witness the downward spiral of the highly symbolically named Arthur Fleck. An abused child who as an adult absurdly attempts to be a professional clown and stand up comic, despite the obvious fact that he is decidedly the opposite of funny. Gradually, Arthur's world unravels and he crosses the line into pure madness and mayhem. It is clear that the viewer is suppose to be sympathetic towards Arthur but the big question is, should we ? At what point should stop blaming society and give the individual responsibility for his actions ? Normal people should feel some sort of revulsion towards Arthur/Joker as the film progressed, but unfortunately many people uncritically root for him to the finish.
The ending is confusing. I think the director got cold feet and added the ambiguity in order to avoid an even rougher ending that was certain to inspire real life violence, which I would be surprised if it does not anyway. The director punted.
Joachuin Phoenix's performance/ interpretation of the anti-hero Joker is outstanding- this is actually the best part of the film. The main flaw in this tragedy is how the story near the end actually violated English literature 101 dictum of "show, don't tell" This is why I give it a 7.5
Joker's politics can be viewed from both a left and right perspective but what is almost never mentioned is how the movie indicts single motherhood for being the toxic societal ill that it is...Watch this movie and know that there untold thousands of real life Arthur Fleck's out there...you have been warned.