A superb character study, most apt for our times.

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2019)

Joker is not your typical superhero action sci-fi fantasy spectacular, which, given it is (perhaps) an origin story of a super villain is entirely appropriate. Thank goodness.
There is nothing wrong with big dumb superhero action movies, and indeed some of the (unending) stuff churned out by Marvel(Disney), and even D.C.(Warner) manages to elevate itself above the dumb category and even has something important/artistic to say.
However, we are now deep in the over-saturation mire, and personally I am not sure how much more superhero spectacle films I can take. The last film of this ilk I bothered to go and see at the cinema before Joker was Thor: Ragnarok, and I absolutely loved it, and decided to bow out on a high, I promised myself it was the last superhero film I was going to pay money to go and see.
Then I saw the trailers for Joker. This is a film that is, at its heart, is a character study, and a character study against the backdrop of a lack of social services and mental health support, a great chasm of inequality between rich and poor, with a central character who is clearly in desperate need of exactly that kind of help.
You can take this film one of several ways.
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1) It is a film about a character who, without the help he needs and deserves, descends into an inescapable spiral of mental instability leading to extreme violence and inspiring riotous rage around him against the wealthy citizens of society, who seem to neither care or worse, actively exploit people like him.
2) It is a clever re-imagining of some of finest work of Martin Scorsese (particularly Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy and After Hours) in such a way as to ensure that the (still very pertinent) messages of those films are conveyed to a youthful audience that might otherwise not watch those excellent films.
3) The greater majority of what we see in the film takes place in the mind of the lead character, who, as we have seen before in The Dark Knight, is economical with the truth about his own origin story, although in this case perhaps this is done to weave a sympathetic web for himself to ensnare the psychiatrist examining his case so that he might kill her and escape.
Or perhaps it is all of those things. Either way, I feel some of the criticisms levelled at this film by some of the negative reviews are unfair.
Some have pointed out that we see here none of the genius-level plotting and planning that the comic books lead us to expect from the Joker (who usually plays Moriarty to Batman's Sherlock) which is true, in this version Joker falls into his insanity and criminality almost by accident, and is more a (fairly) dumb victim than an active agent of his own destiny. However, if this is all a day-dream or even a psychotic fantasy Joker develops for himself to justify in his own mind his heinous actions, then this totally makes sense.
Some have pointed out the dark and depressing nature of the film. Well, look around yourself at the moment. Films reflect the times they are made, and let's face it; we are living in dire circumstances.
Some have criticised the simplicity and shallowness of the story, well, as a character study you do not need the most riveting plot (just look at the excellent Withnail & I) you need an interesting character/s to explore. We certainly have that!
Some, perhaps most fairly, have criticised how, apart from the few vague references to Gotham and the Wayne family this could be a story about anyone, not really specifically about the Joker...well I believe that is partly the point. There but for the Grace of God Go I kind of thing...
Some have criticised how crowbarred the moments of interaction with the Wayne family into the plot are, but again, if this is a deluded fantasy of a man in Arkham, perhaps even after he has been put there by Batman (after all even though the film seems to be set in the 70s, at the end when he clearly is in the institute, we could be at any time, and the time period could just be part of his fantasy) this is perhaps just an articulation of how his fixation with Bruce Wayne developed.
For me, the only way this film is not a straight ten out of ten, is because as it is so referential to the works of Martin Scorsese mentioned above one cannot but help compare this film with the work of that great director, and, as wonderful as this film is, it is not quite as accomplished as a Taxi Driver, a Goodfellas or a Casino...however, as a gateway for new cineastes to step into those superior works, I for one will forever be grateful for the existence of this fine film.
At its core, this film is well shot, well-constructed, and features one of the best central performances from an actor I have seen in years. Apart from the constant clever references to Charlie Chaplin and the clear love letter to Scorsese, this film works best as a concentration on the ability of Phoenix to bend his face, voice and entire body into a perfect canvas to paint a work of art on. This performance is pure, raw, measured, superb beyond my imagining. Wow is an appropriate word.
The end of the film is pure perfection, our lead character happily walking into the sunset (sort of) and dancing a jubilant jig, chased, very much like Chaplin's Tramp, by uncaring figures of authority, whom he seems to be leading a merry dance. Unlike the last film with Chaplin's Tramp, Modern Times, referenced visually in Joker, instead of the Tramp and the Gamin walking into the sunset determined to not be bowed by the dire circumstances they find themselves in, renewed with a fresh sense of hope in their faith and love for each other, Joker's equivalent dance into the sunset is rather his full acceptance of his insanity, and his commitment to revel in the horror of it.
To top it all off, for a 'relatively small' character-and-dramatic driven film to become the most profitable comic book adaptation ever is brilliant, and gives me a renewed sense of hope for the future. Maybe this is the way for D.C./Warner Bros. instead of trying to copy the big budget all out visual spectacle of the shared universe of Marvel, make small, tight, well made character driven pieces...after all, many of the characters in the D.C. universe are well worth such introspective examination.
If you haven't seen this film yet at the cinema, and it is still on anywhere near you, go see it now, really, I urge you, and you never know, you might just save cinema...