Send in the clown...

Rating: 10/10 (27 January 2020)

Last night I finally got to watch this film. 'The Joker' is thrilling from beginning to end. This take on the very iconic character was just so intriguing. Arthur is such a fully realized character. His story is both a tragedy and a comedy. The movie follows this character from the misunderstood tragic clown to his descent into madness. And Joaquin Phoenix captures all of this really well with his Oscar-worthy performance. He's one hell of an actor. This movie works so well because of him.
Yes, there are a lot of similarities and homages to several films like ' Taxi Driver' but I think Todd Phillips and everyone did such an amazing job making this movie so it stands on its own. The score by composer Hildur Guonadottir was terrific as well.
I think a lot of people can relate to a character like Arthur. He's the forgotten man. The weirdo. Cast aside by society. No one gave a crap about him and it's a real shame. The system failed him and many others. Mental illness is such a big problem in society and I feel we all need to be better at understanding and being supportive. You never truly know what's going on in someone's mind. We as a society create monsters. A person can only take so much until they just snap. And Arthur definitely snapped. His message may not be entirely wrong and we can all agree with him on some points, but his actions certainly were wrong. Send in the clown...