Low-brow message carried by a high-brow performance: Phoenix proves he's one of the greats.

Rating: 8/10 (7 October 2019)

The people have hoisted this movie high onto a pedestal - and those that haven't have grabbed their pitchforks. This film has arrived during a bewildering time in our country and the world at large, a time when shootings feel more prevalent than ever and months-long protests in Hong Kong have gained international recognition. Given the context, and the importance of the pivotal movement occurring in the new Joker movie's Gotham, some have claimed the film promotes not just protest, but violent protest. I think that's blasphemy. Sometimes, a movie is just a movie. Controversy has been a staple of some dynamic proportion of new films since the dawn of moving pictures, and that doesn't always mean the message is supposed to invoke violence from the masses. Keeping this in mind - and thus watching Todd Phillip's "Joker" as entertainment and not an invitation to anarchy - I can say honestly that it was an absolute blast.
Nobody is surprised that Joaquin Phoenix was up for taking on the role. He's a phenomenal actor with an impressive range; just watch him play Freddie Quell in 2012's "The Master" and then Theodore in 2013's "Her" and try to deny his scope of talent. What is surprising is just how enrapturing and satisfying his performance as Arthur Fleck turned out to be. Whatever misgivings you may have about the eruption of violence that occurs around his version of the Joker, Phoenix absolutely elevates this movie, and is impossible (almost to a fault, but not quite) to look away from him. He plays a broken man with a damaged past, and is so completely engrossing, so stunningly bleak, that it makes the film worth watching, and then watching again. Without spoiling anything, I can assure you that his arc is a triumph to behold, and I was clinging to every devilish smile, shocking moment, and chilling laugh that flashed across the screen. He's not trying to kick off an uprising for political gain; he just wants to share his bafflement of society's awfulness with the rest of the world.
Okay, so the performance was master-class, but was the film a masterpiece? Not in my opinion; the theme of rising discontent with the rich and/or powerful is an old one, and it's beaten with a ham fist at times here. But damn if it isn't difficult to admit that given how gripping and show-stopping the titular character turned out to be. And though he's the best part of the movie by a long-shot, he's not the only great thing that "Joker" has going for it. The film is interwoven with a harrowing score written by the same composer that worked on "Arrival", "Sicario" and "Chernobyl", and the music manages to pierce the air at all the right moments, heightening the intensity where it is appropriate and pinning suspense for as long as we can stand it. I have no complaints about the rest of the cast because they are all great (and would you guess this is Robert De Niro's highest grossing opening ever?). The movie is indeed dark, at times nihilistic and very often just bleak, but Phoenix screams "NUTS to that" and revels in the blackness as his tragedy-turned-comedy character transforms into a cackling murderer.
The critics have complaints: That Joaquin Phoenix was trying too hard, and that the themes were overt and annoyingly crass. I'd like to point out that acting your heart out isn't always trying too hard, and trying too hard doesn't always make you a great actor anyways. While his performance certainly does not feel effortless, I never once rolled my eyes - I was captivated. As for the heavy-handed "message", I say please - this is still a comic book movie. I'm not sure what you expected.
8.5/10 for the best performance of 2019 in a Cedar Point thrill of a film.