Each could stand alone as its own personal film. Yet they are tied together by the fact that we are seeing a different state of evolution for the same group of characters. It is wonderful and frightening how we see the maturation of Joker. Modine is convincing in his role and shows a level of maturity here that we see in some of his later films, like Short Cuts . First half is right up there with the best Kubrick ever did.
Second half is good but pales in comparison to the first half.
Modine was never this good before or since. This is one of many great Vincent D'onofrio roles. Real good actor. Yeah, this is a powerful film. I agree this shines as Modine's best performance.