A Joker movie for grown-ups

Rating: 9/10 (13 October 2019)

Never written a review before, but felt compelled here due to all the news headlines about people walking out of this movie...
I saw this movie yesterday. It was absolutely awesome. As a movie-goer, I have always preferred the grittier, more realistic movies to typical Hollywood action blockbusters.
I'll start by saying that this movie is not a typical "DC comics Universe" movie, it is not a super-hero/super-villain movie, this is a movie for grown-ups; portraying a visceral character-analysis of how the Joker came to be.
Does it score on that front? Totally. Does it glamourise mental health issues? Absolutely not.
Joaquin Phoenix was hands-down, the best actor to have been cast for this role. In my opinion, he is an actor who is only getting better with age. His realistic portrayal of Arthur Fleck descending into Joker was absolutely bang-on. The story was realistic - a "how it could really have happened if Joker were real" if you will. A realistic portrayal of how society can be perceived today. Are there violent scenes in this movie? Yes. Have I seen movies that have shown more/worse violence than this movie? God yes. The Purge, Goodfellas, Casino, Battle Royale... I could literally go on and on. People need to remember that this is a movie. People walking out of this movie because of it's violence, portrayal of mental health issues, or because they believe it could "incite" gun-violence or mass-shooting issues, already have problems reconciling some of these issues that are real-life in todays world. This movie doesn't exacerbate gun-violence issues, it merely highlights the fact that America has, and has always had, gun control issues. Quite frankly, I'm more disturbed by what I read about the current US government administration than I am about anything I saw in this film. Go see it for yourselves folks. Recommended.