Poor, Poor Jokey

Rating: 4/10 (26 December 2019)

I must say, I did expect at least some deepness from this movie, since it was so high praised by the community.
In the end, it turns out that poor Jokey was an abused child, and anything that he needed, to rise as Joker, was just a gun that a colleague gave him.
So the introduction to Joker, him being the archetype of a criminal kingpin (in a comic fiction, that has to be added) is a very sad and predictable story about a mentally crippled, poor man in his 40s, who lives with his old and ill mom (gosh, where did I see this setting the last time, it's like writers cannot think of a different one with their villains) during bad times.
Once he aquires said gun, he is beaten by some dicks in the subway and shoots them, which leads to the release of his brutal side.
I did not need to watch one trailer to feel most of the movie's story coming, even the fantasy girlfriend was easy to tell.
I can only slightly imagine, how so many people got fascinated by a story that is only a flat cliche on nearly every level, but there are so many hints whispering 'i am good, believe me', and I assume, people just couldn't resist.
But it maybe, too, be a picture that especially works for and in the U.S. I live in Europe, where the mentally ill and traumatized ones are integrated into society wherever possible, with the same rights like everyone, or even more. Programs to support them are rarely cancelled and handicapped peopleof all kinds get protected employments.
So I could not really connect with the premises, but hey, it's Gotham, isn't it ? A town that is supposed to be a fictional NewChicagomerica, where everything can happen. Therefore the most dumb storyline one can imagine can happen also, and it does.
So for me 'Joker' is only 4 stars, with 4 of them going to J. Phoenix, who did a great Job in saving a development story single-handedly, that seems to be written by substage pupils.