JOKER - IT'S ON YOU.

Rating: 1/10 (17 October 2019)

Parisians love movies. As I walk around the city, I see hundreds of movie theatres with all kinds of movies playing. Today, I decided to look at a big, multiplex movie theatre that is right around the corner from where I am staying, UGC CINÉ CITÉ LES HALLES - would you believe it is showing 46 films on 27 separate screens?
When you go to a French movie and you speak as little Frecnh as I do, you'll need to go see an American or English movie that is NOT dubbed but rather sub-titled. France has acronyms that describe what you will see -
VO stands for Version Originale, or the original version of the film with French subtitles for audiences that do not understand the native language of the film.
VF stands for Version Française, meaning that it is the French version of the film which has been dubbed with French audio - no subtitles.
VOSTFR stands for Version Originale Sous-Titrée en FRançais, meaning that it is the original version of a film with subtitles in French.
Finally, the term VOST stands for Version Originale Sous-Titrée, or the original version of a film with subtitles in the film's original language.
Most American films are dubbed in France and it is strange to hear the voices since they are nothing like the actor's real voice.
I saw Joker at a packed house. The audience was much more quiet than an American one. But, first, let me answer the question I know you are asking yourself - and the answer is Yes, they sell popcorn and it's good, but you'll have to first answer the BIG question when you order - sweet or sour? Sweet? Sour? I answered - sel, seulemont (salt only). The young woman was incredulous, but gave me my popcorn.
The most important thing about the movie you should know is that Joker is not about the Joker you and I and the rest of the world associate with Batman. This Joker is the Joker who became that Joker. Yes, eventually, he commits crimes but they are the ordinary crimes that most non-supervillains commit.
This Joker, played with wild abandon by Joaquin Phoenix, is a mommy's boy who has delusions of being normal. He lives in a city that resembles New York City in the 1970s. If you weren't there, it was a garbage-strewn, graffiti-emblazoned mess. Arthur Fleck, Joker's real name, is a clown who plays at childrens' parties. One day, he loses his job (the reason is silly) and discovers that his much-adored mother (Frances Conroy) may be as crazy and delusional as he is. Along the way, the film takes potshots at cutting the funding for mentally ill people - anyway, it's a really bad day and Arthur snaps.
One of his heroes is a Tonight-like show's host, Murray Franklin, played unconvincingly by Robert DeNiro. I think that is the first time I used that word to describe a DeNiro performance, but his totally stiff appearance makes his being cast as a Johnny Carson-ish character one of the greatest miscastings in the history of the movies. I mean, DeNiro would be better cast as Robin Hood or Cary Grant. Add the miscasting to the fact that the character is totally unappealing and you have hit the movie disaster jackpot.
Arthur longs to be a stand-up comic and make people laugh. His mother, may or may not have had Arthur during an affair with Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen) - and there's your Batman connection.
Joker is one of the most evil films I have ever seen. I know that seems a strange word to use, but this movie cynically uses the depressingly wide gap between the haves and have-nots in America to act as a backdrop to a story that has no purpose other than to make us wince and squirm. Director/co-writer Todd Philips' most famous contribution to cinema has been the Hangover series. His writing partner, Scott Silver's last movie, The Finest Hours, lost $50,000,000.00 in the US. Hollywood studio heads, if you don't understand the anger of female writers and directors in Hollywood, take another look at Scott Silver. Yes, he was nominated for an Oscar for The Fighter, but there were three other writers on that script. Seventeen years ago, he wrote a hit movie, 8 Mile. Since then he has done nothing of note, yet here he is co-writing a big-budget movie and making a mess of it.
I emphasis the creators because this is one of the most poorly written scripts I have even seen made into a big-budget movie and I have seen some doozies. This is a movie that made me run home to shower. It is such an ugly look at the world that there is nothing at all that is redeeming about it. The most shocking moment is when we see Mr. Phoenix in his underwear - he looks seriously ill, almost malnourished. And his excesses don't stop there - his is one of the most undisciplined performances I have ever seen.
I have to mention the score because it is as bad as the rest of the movie. Written by Hildur Gudnadottir, it stops and starts and then disappears then BANG! BOP! Then it's just gone. Two words came to mind when it was over - thank god.
Joker is a world-wide hit. Some would argue that is the proverbial bottom line - who cares that it's not only junk, but evil junk, lots of people have gone to see it. Lots of people, in the past, have gone to hangings, beheadings, bear baitings and public burnings too. I am certain most people went to see Joker thinking they were going to see the Batman franchise Joker who had been played thrillingly by Jared Leto, Heath Ledger, Caesar Romero and Jack Nicholson. Well, the joke is on them. Us. Me. You.