Don't believe the hype!!!

Rating: 5/10 (19 October 2019)

Wow, the concensus here is that this film is a MASTERPIECE, but that's debatable. Where I can say that it's an "alright" film is about as honest as it gets. Joaquin Phoenix (while a damned fine actor) played the exact same role with the much better film "You Were Never Really Here" in 2017. He tends to play the same or similar character in the majority of his films. Other reviewers of "Joker"mentions the obvious nods to "Taxi Driver" which I agreed with while watching this film, it was just a little too obvious. It sounds like sour grapes to mention that I thought Heath Ledger's Joker was a more fleshed out portrayal of a psychopath, but it simply was. Now with that aside, let's not forget how plain BORING this film was. After 29 minutes some action finally happens with the train scene which was good. The ending (while predictable) was pretty good as well. But between those two scenes..it was dullsville. Just watching Phoenix act oddly for the majority of the film just wasn't enough to CARRY the film on it's own. I believe the phony hype surrounding this film prompting mass shootings etc really helped the box office numbers before anyone really had a chance to see the quality of the film. I say do yourself a favor and re-watch "You Were Never Really Here" to watch a much better portrayal of madness from a much better Joaquin Phoenix.