Scorsese-lite

Rating: 4/10 (11 February 2020)

My friends looked at me as if I was a crazy person when I told them I didn't like this movie as much a they did. I'm still baffled by the amount of 10s this movie has on this site, am I missing something? This movie follows a lot of the beats from Taxi Driver and King of Comedy, to the point where it becomes distracting. De Niro is even cast as a Rupert Pupkin kind of character, its so obvious. The film tries to be a solemn and in-depth look at mental illness, when in fact its just shallow origin story that takes itself so seriously, it borders on parody. The movie looks good and Joaquin Phoenix gives a very committed performance. The craft on display, the cinematography, and Joaquin's performance are highlights, but none of that is able to elevate the fact that this film has the emotional depth of an angsty teenager. 2017's You Were Never Really Here is a better Joker, which is also about a damaged protagonist living with his sick mother.