Joker - One Of the Best Dramas of the 2010's

Rating: 10/10 (17 October 2019)

This masterpiece is one of the best movies I have seen in years. 'Joker' is beyond just an origin story for the iconic supervillian, far beyond actually. This is a bold movie with sustenance and more layers than can possibly be covered in a review.
The acting is wonderful, and I'm not going to simply repeat what everyone else has said. Phoenix's performance was masterful and Oscar worthy. The directing as well as the writing of the screenplay was equally brilliant. The movie is unique in the best way and cannot easily be compared to anything else; the only film that I could remotely relate this to is "A Beautiful Mind". That being said, the comparison is because of the clever 'uncertainties' that both films use to get the viewers into the minds of the main characters.
The film's main theme revolves about mental illness and how society's ignorance and neglect to people who suffer mentally can have grave consequences. It is an unapologetic display of the mind of a murderer while quietly educating the audience that compassion and understanding can go a long way. Critics calling the film 'irresponsible' and 'tasteless' clearly do not understand the film's true meaning: perhaps they are looking for another cranked out, uncreative, sterile superhero movie, or maybe the reason is much more complex. Being that 'Joker' is the top selling movie for October - ever... and the majority of America is in love with the film, I can't help but think these critics, writers, and magazines are simply out of touch with what the majority of America thinks, and maybe there is a reason for that.
There are hundreds of articles published every day by second-tier, and sometimes even first-tier media outlets finding great horror in a semi off-color joke in a movie, or how books, tv shows, and movies should be banned in entirety. The popularity of web articles in general today are dependent on social media shares and promotions, the outlets themselves getting their revenue off of advertisements on their own sites. However, there has to be an incentive to 'click' on an article in the first place. Articles get 'noticed' and ranked higher on social media based on how many reactions there are be it comments, likes, shares... dislikes... arguments by multiple people... Unfortunately, an article that is literally meant to 'split the room' will do great because there is no reason to comment or share something that is universally agreed upon. Perhaps divisive, overly political, and easily offended writers are deliberately hired for this purpose.
That being said, America loves 'Joker' and so do I. Here's to many more movies from the talented team and the studio that produced it. This will certainly go down as one of the most memorable films of this decade.