Joaquin rocks this role but script is lacking depth

Rating: 7/10 (10 October 2019)

The acting by Joaquin Phoenix is without any doubt Oscar worthy and he carries the entire film. The story does a wonderful job of describing in too much detail the slow torturous descent of a slightly crazy young man into a full blown lost crazy man without meds. And the back story is well written with some nice twists that few comic stories make the viewer feel like this could be any person in any city that could suddenly turn crazy without their meds.
But besides the obvious fall from grace and tragic events that lead to his downfall it is a far cry from making one feel like this Joker is going to turn into the future Joker that is a genius manipulator and Gotham city nemesis to Batman, etc. You almost wish the film went a bit longer to see how the Joker genius ignites. It is almost like his character by luck or chance stumbles upon some ideas and then out of the blue.... the entire city is already rioting and tearing the place to pieces... and the Joker is just a sliver of influence. Not the master manipulator and he looks shocked it happens.
Maybe that is the entire point... that the inequality and injustice is so out of control deep inside the city that it only took a few crazy acts from the Joker to ignite that flame into a giant riot. Makes one think twice about what is going on in HKong and Iraq and what city will be next.
It is a film that makes one think about many aspects of life and character studies but the depth of showing why this all cascades into mayhem is barely touched upon... trite things like garbage strike, super rats, even the 1% wealthy and Mr Wayne are portrayed in a vague manner that lacks any reason for riots. And it does not have the entertaining comic book depth that one expects from a character like the Joker of the future... this guy is milk toast that might one day percolate into the genius maniac Heather/Nicholson Joker - but it felt more like a thriller character development story and less of a DC icon yet still an enjoyable film. Kudos to Phillips for taking a chance on making a gritty film even if references are stolen from Clockwork Orange, Taxi Driver, King of Comedy, etc. This might be a good prelude to a sequel that shows the transition to Joker genius Joker 2 and Joker 3 like the Hang Over trilogy. I sure hope not!!
A 7 mostly for the acting but not a 10 like some claim on here which is a bit excessive. It is no masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination.