Certainly not Jack's "Joker" or even Heath's still an excellent and dark artistic performance from Joaquin that had my face smiling and that's life!

Rating: 10/10 (4 October 2019)

Many of us over the years have been attached and thrilled with the "Clown Prince of Crime" as D.C. comic fans know as the one and only "Joker". And we've seen different takes and spins from Romero's camp, to Ledger's dark wild crazy turn, and the man the one and only Jack played the clown with vanity and brought a proper turn to a bad guy while having fun(Nicholson's "Joker" was like that of the late 70's early 80's "Joker" in D.C. comics) now enter Phoenix who's much different with a creepy origin story.
Set in the early 1980's Gotham city is gritty, raw and the social and political climate is in the gutter as just getting by is so tough. And just tip toeing and dancing his way thru the drama is Arthur Fleck(in a hell of a turn from Joaquin at least nominate him for a "Golden Globe" or "Oscar") a lonely and depressed mommies boy who's a skinny starving clown who just can't fit in he's a society misfit. It's really somewhat of a sad character study.
However hope is possible in the form of Fleck wanting to get away from being a clown for children as his real dream is to be a standup comedian as his smile and crazy lasting laugh is always present! As laughter is the cure for his pain! His hope of escape is to appear on a late night talk show hosted by Murray Franklin(Robert De Niro) where Arthur hopes to showcase his talents. Also the only other wild card pleasure he has in his life is dating a single mom named Sophie(Zazie Beetz) from his apartment building. And his sick mother Penny keeps Arthur hanging on with love and hope as that keeps him hanging on.
Only secrets and ghost of the past and painful memories only destroy the fragile mind of Arthur even more as a connection to millionaire Thomas Wayne is revealed and even more shattering is how this connection and more events will lead to "The Dark Knight". Great and excellent work from director Todd Phillips who despite making a stand alone dark character study still connects things up with others in the D.C. universe.
Many might see this picture as a dark tragedy I think it's a take and spin on how one is affected by life and then they take on a different role after years of being abused and mistreated in the world by it's people. Still this film is excellent because it's unique and finally glad a stand alone movie celebrates "The Joker"(the greatest comic book bad guy ever!) As Joaquin's performance was raw, gritty, and a lashing out of some payback to society. Wow enough said best D.C. comics character study ever made!