Truth about this legendary film

Rating: 6/10 (23 November 2019)

Despite the very recent release it should be a classic permanently. Now to why it only gets six stars.
1. No very pretty girls in speaking parts. The women who have parts in the film are not outright stunning. Not great visually.
2. Disappointed expectations. Half the viewers came thinking Joker was going to be about an arch-criminal in Gotham City and his bizarre criminal tirades complete with a gang of crooks. Not much of that here at all.
3. Obscurity in what we saw. Delusion? Made up story by insane asylum inmate? What was real and what did the inmate make up in mind and or verbal telling. It seems as if the Joker early on definitely fantasized being on the talk show but was his adult life with his rather plain-looking mother also a delusion as well? A delusion within a delusion? Some will think this is is a plus but surprisingly it is not that much fun to wonder what is made up and what is not.
4. Low on period flavor. Set in 1981 by the movies playing but the cars look later 80s ( even in the goofs here at IMDb here they claim the car that Joker collides with is from the late 1980s). Phone booth problems, hairstyle troubles and more.
5. Though it very obviously borrowed from Robert DeNiro films (and this film stars DeNiro himself in small part) DeNiro obviously did it much, much better than Mr. Phoenix here. The former was deeper. DeNiro, one of the finest actors in world civ, has not met his match with the star of this film. ( One might think DeNiro's film Taxi Driver was junky as a movie (and it indeed was in most ways) but Mr. DeNiro was undeniably ultra-excellent acting in it!)
PS Does have a couple of high points. One to mention is the talk show was brilliantly done as it was obviously a fantasy as no local talk ever really has that kind of opening. And the weird problem GC had with rats. All obviously in Joker's ( character real name Arthur Fleck) mind. This hints (but doesn't fully prove!) his living with his mom and his very terrible killing of her was all imaginary.
I have written about other Batman movie performers at imdb in reviews. See my other reviews.