A great performance but not a great origin movie

Rating: 6/10 (5 October 2019)

At the heart of this film is an outstanding performance from Joaquin Phoenix. And it is that performance itself that I think distracts from a number of the films shortcomings. Aiming for a gritty down-at-heel look from the opening moments, with the recreation of the Warner Brothers logo from the 1970s, you very much get the mood of classics such as the French Connection and Taxi Driver. Films with no real good guy and a very dower and world weary feel. Within this setting we find struggling clown Arthur Fleck, a man suffering from numerous mental health issues who has been overlooked by the support services, and which are in turn themselves been cutback by the city, and ever demanding budget savings. As the film moves on Arthur becomes more downtrodden and isolated, his connection with reality more and more tenuous, until ... well that's the point of the film - the origin of The Joker. But getting here is not a startling revelation, just an all to believable of another troubled person falling through the cracks of the support services, in a city that doesn't care. Which is an issue that needs addressing and is handled so much better in Phoenix's previous film "You were never really here". Maybe the point of the filmmakers were to make it a very grounded take, but I feel that in turn misses the concept of the Joker. Remove the face-paint, cut away the pointless Wayne references and you have a much better film. With it and you have yet another actor undertaking a great physical performance but not much else.