Not a Masterpiece

Rating: 7/10 (20 October 2019)

A film which wants to be The King of Comedy and Taxi Driver, but doesn't live up to either. It is rather hollow and simplistic, and doesn't do justice to the character of the joker who's asset is his intelligence.
The film feels like a screenplay based on a loner called Arthur Fleck, which was later adapted to fit in the DC comic book universe. Sadly those sort of film rarely get financial backing these days.
On the plus side, it looks amazing and displays another great performance by Joaquin Pheonix, although not close to his work in PTA's The Master.
The shot near the end of Joker painting his smile with blood is worth the ticket price. A holy moment.