Powerful but Plagiarized

Rating: 6/10 (5 October 2019)

This movie certainly has its strengths. Terrific performances by Phoenix and De Niro (who stands out even given his minor role), command the screen; interesting commentary on the importance of resources for the mentally ill; shocking scenes that hit hard even in today's media desensitization to violence.
My issue with the movie come from its relative lack of story originality. It was as if writers Todd Phillips and Scott Silver recreated Taxi Driver, but replaced the subplot of prostitution ring with the King of Comedy talk show themes (and Rupert Pupkin associated discomfort). Not to mention the last scene with Arthur walking out of the room with blood covering his shoes seems to be taken directly from No Country to Old Men, and the group of Wall Street guys taunting Arthur on the subway bears striking resemblance to the gangs in A Clockwork Orange. This movie aligns so close to Taxi Driver that plagiarism must be called into question. Between character parallels (Bickle and Joker; Charles Palantine and Thomas Wayne); turning point scenes (when Bickle snaps in the convenience store = when Bickle snaps in the subway); regular scenes (the finger gun to the head); and questions after the fact such as what is real vs. imaginary.
It is okay for a movie to be inspired by another work, but this seems to be taking that "inspiration" a few steps too far.