A Punishing Viewing Experience

Rating: 2/10 (30 October 2019)

"Joker" doesn't wait long to begin inflicting harm.
In the opening scene, we watch Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) stare into a mirror as he pulls up the corners of his mouth, forcing a smile. It's an early indication of the unhappiness that has brewed inside Arthur all his life. It's also an early indication of the unhappiness we're about to endure for next two hours.
"Joker" is a miserable watch. It's endlessly depressing, containing not a single ounce of happiness, humor or hope. Arthur's daily existence as a struggling performing clown consists of nothing but loneliness and grim thoughts, much like what I felt during my time in the theater. It is a burden to sit through this movie.
The never-ending cavalcade of sadness and loathsome behavior we witness on screen does not contain nearly enough depth to be worthy of the debate that raged for months in advance of the premiere. The movie is flat out bad. It's derivative of better movies (namely, Taxi Driver & The King of Comedy), unnecessarily violent, and annoyingly over-the-top. But the movie's greatest flaw is that is boring.
Nothing interesting or unexpected occurs. Some of the events could have passed for interesting if they had not been painstakingly foreshadowed by the previous hour of mundane bleakness.
Every scene essentially delivers the same message: Arthur lives in a world of poverty, torment, and loneliness. Arthur is lonely at work, on the bus, in the elevator, while watching tv - every scene tells the same story. Watching the string of scenes one after another quickly grows tired and dull. It's all painfully repetitive and frustratingly one note. The presence one scene depicting an auspicious event, any reason for hope or happiness would have given a much welcome break from the monotonous misery.
Sadly, that break in tone arrives in the form of explosive bursts of violence. Lost on no one is the fact that Arthur has a mental illness, which undoubtedly contributes to his violent fits of rage - this sends the message to viewers that these sorts of people are dangerous and frightening. It's a reckless and problematic depiction of a person suffering from mental illness, one that only serves to perpetuate an already damaging stigma.
Any earnest exploration carried out by the movie into the lack of help provided to individuals with mental illness was too superficial to make a real impact. A potential tagline for the movie "Society created the Joker" has about as much depth as the movie itself. Sure, that idea is lightly implied, but it's not unpacked in any meaningful way during the two-hour runtime.
Any social issues aside, the main reason I didn't enjoy the movie is because it's simply not a good movie. All reports suggest that this movie is a one off and will have no sequels. I can only hope that's true.
I suggest finding something else to watch, like one of the many superior films available in theaters or via streaming. If you don't, the joke is on you.