Wonderful performance by Phoenix, dark/gritty sets and cinematography, but...

Rating: 3/10 (9 October 2019)

For me, movies ultimately rise or fall based on the strength of the story, plot and dialogue. I'll also say that (again, for me) the Joker as a character - be it onscreen or in comic books/graphic novels - tends to work best when the character is used sparingly, along with the motivations leaning toward psychotic yet focused disruption and the origins being unexplained.
Well, 2019's JOKER lays everything bare in this Joker-centric (centric to the point where it is all Phoenix/Joker to the virtual exclusion of anything else) flick, although Phoenix doesn't complete the transformation into what we traditionally recognize as the Joker until very late into the 2 hour film. Which makes sense, because ultimately this is an origin film, yet by taking such a lengthy look at what made the Joker the way he is all the mystery is removed.
What JOKER boils down to is a long, grimy look at a middle-aged man suffering from mental illness who can't hold a job, has aspirations of fame yet possesses no discernable talents to achieve the popularity he craves, has a friendless/sexless existence, lives with his mother, is mistreated by society, goes off his meds and eventually explodes murderous rages. The awe one may have held previous Joker incarnations such as 2008's The Dark Knight - where the Joker's actions have degrees of malevolent brilliance - is totally absent here. There's certainly nothing in JOKER to "root" for, unless one holds "I've been wronged by society and life has screwed me over" spree killers in high esteem, so the climatic scenes come off as pathetically repellent. JOKER here is a sad-sack loser to be, at best, pitied. There's no wit or intelligence behind his malevolence here.
3 stars, and solely for Joaquin Phoenix, who certainly throws himself completely into the role and amply demonstrates his superior acting ability. Unfortunately, the ability he brings and the effort he expends is in service of a rather pointless undertaking. I'm a big fan of the Joker as a character, but not the way he was written here. I'm also a big fan of Phoenix, and while he does have the ability to elevate material that isn't up to his talents even an actor of his caliber can only elevate a poorly constructed plot so high.