Noble effort, but largely style over substance.

Rating: 4/10 (9 October 2019)

I respect the unusual effort to try and do a movie about a comic book supervillain. But, the Joker still remains largely a cipher. Sure he's crazy, a bit tortured, and he loves anarchy. The problem is, it is all style and no substance. A movie about a crazy person being crazy isn't that interesting, enlightening or entertaining. Having a character that has traumatic brain injury as the driving cause of his delusions and schizophrenia doesn't really work. What makes the Joker an intriguing character is ability to see ourselves (just a little bit) in the character. Which is why the Joker is more interesting as a character who reached his breaking point and went totally over to the "dark side." Sorta like Michael Douglas in "Falling Down." He clearly has shades of Travis Bickle from "Taxi Driver" in him, but that character's descent to the dark side was MUCH more interesting.
The movie lightly touches on some interesting themes, but the finale isn't earned. The self-aware soliloquy at the end isn't earned. Indeed, that awareness is contrary the back story that was developed. But, in the end it has enough style in the direction and acting to keep your attention. But, it needed a lot more than a cooky, dancing, skinny Joaquin Phoenix to make it work. Although it was a different type of movie, I still think Heath Ledger's Joker was much better.