Joaquin Phoenix for the win!

Rating: 10/10 (5 October 2019)

"I used to think my life was a tragedy, but now I realize..... it's a comedy"
WOW. Now that's what I call an agent of chaos. Best actor goes to Joaquin Phoenix for his incredible intense mind blowing performance as Arthur Fleck, AKA Joker. This is the origin story to beat all origin stories. I was thoroughly entranced for 2 hours watching his painful transition from a beaten down sad sack to the famous insane maniacal narcissist we all know & love. I will have to see this on the big screen again soon, it was a brilliantly laid out psychological character study that gave me a lot to think about when it comes to the DC world of the caped crusader's nemesis I've always known. This story has a major shift to how I've perceived the crazed, hapless, clownfaced criminal, since I first saw him portrayed by Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, & of course, fairly different than the outstanding portrayal by Heath in TDK. Arthur just keeps having one bad day after another, so I felt sorry for him in this story as I never had before.
The score by Icelandic composer Hildur GuÃ°nadÃ³ttir that was heavily powered by her dramatic cello was a perfect match to show how this story unfolds, & the classic Sinatra songs, "Send in the Clowns" & "That's Life" along with "Jimmy Durante's "Smile" were a natural choice for the soundtrack as well as several old rock songs like Cream's "White Room", The Guess Who's "Laughing", The Doors "People Are Strange", Pink Floyd's "Brain Damage", & The Bee Gees "I Started A Joke" (just to name a few) went so well with the character development.
If you're expecting a comic book super villain story similar to the previous versions of Joker on the big screen, you might be disappointed. However, go see this with an open mind & watch the goddamn genius that is Joaquin play Joker as he's never been played before & maybe you'll love it like I did.