Joker (2019) (Stephenverse)

Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Directed and produced by Todd Phillips, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver, the film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck / Joker and provides a possible origin story for the character. The film is set in 1981, it follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Bill Camp, Shea Whigham, and Marc Maron appear in supporting roles. Joker was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Films, and Joint Effort, in association with Bron Creative and Village Roadshow Pictures, and distributed by Warner Bros.
Phillips conceived Joker in 2016 and wrote the script with Silver throughout 2017. The two were inspired by 1970s character studies and the films of Martin Scorsese (particularly Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy), who was initially attached to the project as a producer. The film loosely adapts plot elements from Batman: The Killing Joke (1988), but Phillips and Silver otherwise did not look to specific comics for inspiration. Phoenix became attached in February 2018 and was cast that July, while the majority of the cast signed on by August. Principal photography took place in New York City, Jersey City, and Newark, from September to December 2018. Joker is the first live-action theatrical Batman film to receive an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association.
Joker premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2019, where it won the Golden Lion, and was released in the United States on October 4, 2019. The film experienced a polarized critical reception. While Phoenix's performance, the direction, editing, musical score, and cinematography were praised, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it. Despite this, Joker became a major box office success and set records for an October release. It grossed over $1.3 billion, the first R-rated film to do so, and became the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2019 during its theatrical run.
==Plot==
In 1981, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) works as a clown-for-hire for a company called Ha-Ha's. He struggles with severe depression personally but finds some form of optimism in performing for others and trying to make people laugh. He is tasked with advertising a store by dancing and waving a sign around. On one such occasion, the sign gets snatched by a group of punk teens, forcing Arthur to chase them into an alley. They smash the sign against his face and proceed to mercilessly kick him while he's down.
In this era, Gotham is struggling with crime, unemployment, and poverty. Arthur visits a social worker for his medication, as well as his ongoing mental health issues. On the bus ride home, a small child looks at Arthur. He makes silly faces that amuse the boy, but his mother tells Arthur to leave him alone. Arthur begins to laugh hysterically and uncontrollably. When the mother questions him, he hands her a card that explains that he has a mental condition that causes him to laugh the way that he does. Arthur returns home to a high-rise apartment project, where he lives with his ailing mother, Penny (Frances Conroy). After dinner, they sit and watch a TV talk show with host Murray Franklin (Robert DeNiro). Arthur imagines himself being on the show and getting Murray's attention. In his fantasy, Arthur charms the audience and Murray by telling them that he takes care of his mother. Murray relates to Arthur and invites him up on stage in front of everyone, where they share a familial embrace. It is revealed that Penny used to work for Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen) and is obsessed with the millionaire and has been currently writing to him to try and better their living situation.
At Ha-Ha's, Arthur is given a gun for protection by his co-worker Randall (Glenn Fleschler) after he hears about the mugging incident. Arthur is both reluctant and relieved to receive such a gift as firearms are outlawed at work but soon finds his confidence growing after receiving the weapon. However, soon after this, he is confronted by his cold and unfeeling boss, who reprimands him for losing the sign and takes the cost of it out of his pay. Arthur responds only by smiling bitterly. Arthur meets and becomes infatuated with one of his neighbors, a single mother named Sophie Dumond (Zazie Beetz). She speaks to him politely about relating issues that he can relate to. However, while trying to make an impression with her, he appears awkward and weird around her. At one point, he spends his day following her. Later, she comes by his apartment and asks if he was following her, and he admits that he was, but she doesn't seem put off by it. He invites her to a stand-up comedy show that he is performing at. She is hesitant but is won over by his charm and sense of humor. Arthur watches comedians perform to help him gain some insight into the craft, but feels more awkward and out of place as his over-the-top laughter is not genuine.
Arthur goes to the comedy club for his performance. His nervousness consumes him and, as a coping mechanism, unintentionally finds himself laughing so hard that he can barely speak. He then begins going off into his routine, which isn't very funny. Sophie appears to be in the audience, the only person who is laughing at Arthur's jokes. This gives him the comfort he needs to continue to joke despite his inner torment and turmoil. Arthur later goes to a children's hospital to entertain them as a clown. He brought his gun with him, and it falls out on the floor. Arthur's boss later chews him out for this. Arthur pleads for a second chance, but his boss refuses and fires him on the spot. To top things off, Randall throws Arthur under the bus by claiming that Arthur got the gun himself. On the subway train ride home from Ha-Ha's in full clown getup, Arthur spots three drunk young Wall Street types working for Wayne Enterprises harassing a woman. Arthur starts laughing unintentionally and draws the attention of the men, while the woman wisely flees from that car. The men approach Arthur and mock him and his laughter before they start to beat him. Arthur fights back in self-defense, but they team up, and relentlessly beat him to the floor. Having had enough, Arthur then pulls out his gun and shoots two of them dead in self-defense before following the last guy out of the train and murdering him on the stairs.
In shock over what he just did, Arthur retreats into a nearby public men's room. After a moment of frantic contemplation, he finds a force rising within him, and he begins to dance by himself. At this moment, he sees himself in the dirty mirror as a battered and smeared and yet powerful clown and begins to embrace it. He hides the gun and then returns to the apartment building where he meets and kisses Sophie for the first time. The news of the three murders spreads, with some seeing it as an attack on the wealthy, while others support the act. Thomas Wayne speaks out and condemns it, labeling the lower class as "clowns," which becomes a symbol they readily embrace. The next day, Arthur cleans out his locker at Ha Ha's but not before confronting Randall about betraying him and breaking the time punching machine. He then leaves, feeling high-spirited and free. News reports show clown rioters protesting through the city and wreaking trouble, condemning the higher privileged. Arthur sees that he has inadvertently caused this and begins to see his true potential, which makes him genuinely delighted. Arthur later finds one of Penny's letters to Thomas, which indicates that Arthur is Thomas' son. Arthur goes to Wayne Manor, where he meets young Bruce Wayne (Dante Pereira-Olson). After performing a magic trick for Bruce, he sticks his hands through the gate and forces Bruce to smile, realizing deep within that they may or may not be brothers. However, Alfred (Douglas Hodge) comes to intervene and tell Arthur to leave. Arthur mentions his mother and her involvement with Thomas. Alfred says he remembers Penny, but that she was lying to him. Arthur attacks and nearly strangles Alfred through the bars but then notices that Bruce is watching. Arthur then gets hold of himself and flees the Wayne premises.
That evening, Arthur finds Thomas at a public art theater event. Arthur infiltrates the theater by impersonating an usher. He follows Thomas Wayne into a men's room and tries to confront him with the potential of him being his father. Arthur mentions Penny, whom Thomas also remembers. While Thomas also acknowledges that Penny used to work for him as part of his housekeeping staff, he says that she was delusional and that there's no way Arthur could be his son. Thomas also explains that Penny never told Arthur that he was adopted, which Arthur strongly rejects before uncontrollably laughing in Thomas's face. Thomas, unaware of Arthur's condition, becomes defensive and punches Arthur in the face before having him thrown out of the building. Arthur returns home, where he tortures himself by slamming his head on the refrigerator in a fit of depression and longing. The next day, two police detectives, Burke (Shea Wigham) and Garrity (Bill Camp), go to Arthur's apartment to question him on the subway murders due to the word that the suspect was wearing clown make-up, and they know Arthur lost his job earlier that day. Arthur denies any involvement and gets the detectives to leave. Not long after, Penny falls ill and is hospitalized. Sophie sits by Arthur as he tends to his mother. In the hospital, Arthur sees that Murray's TV show is playing a clip from his stand-up routine, but he is hurt to see that Murray only played it to mock Arthur.
Arthur later receives a phone call from a rep for Murray's show. He is invited to appear as a guest, which Arthur reluctantly accepts. After studying other interviews on the comedy show, Arthur decides to commit suicide in front of the live audience, thinking it will make them laugh. Seeking hard proof, Arthur goes to Arkham Asylum and speaks to a clerk, named Carl (Brian Tyree Henry), who has a file on Penny. When Carl says he can't give Arthur the info he wants, Arthur snatches the file and runs away to read it. Once away and hidden in a stairwell, Arthur opens the documents and reads them, finding that Thomas was telling the truth... according to the documents. The reality is that Penny adopted Arthur after he was found abandoned as a baby, and she abused him, tying him to a radiator and beating him alongside her abusive boyfriend. One part of the file mentions Arthur having a head injury, which is most likely what caused his laughing condition. Arthur returns to the hospital and tells Penny that he thought his life was a tragedy, but he sees it's a "fucking comedy." With that, he smothers Penny to death. Arthur goes back home and breaks into Sophie's apartment. She sees him and is terrified, asking him to leave for the sake of her daughter. Arthur asks her if she has ever had "a really bad day," to which she replies that she doesn't even know him. Through this, it is revealed that every other moment featuring Sophie was just in Arthur's head. A broken and frustrated Arthur apologizes for his intrusion and leaves Sophie alone, storming out of her apartment.
Arthur starts to get ready for his appearance on Murray's show and paints his face white. He is visited in his apartment by Randall and another former co-worker, a dwarf named Gary (Leigh Gill). They offer condolences after they hear about Penny's death, but then Randall begins mentioning Burke and Garrity going to their apartments to question them about the subway murders. Arthur realizes that Randall is only seeking a way to use Arthur in order to cover his own butt and then snaps, brutally stabbing Randall twice in the face before smashing his head against the wall. A terrified Gary questions Arthur's deeds and begs to be let go. Arthur agrees to before playfully scaring him as a prank. Gary tries to undo the lock on Arthur's door but is unable to due to his height. He asks Arthur to open the door for him to which Arthur immediately agrees, pausing once to thank Gary for being the only person in his life who was nice to him. Arthur kisses Gary on the forehead and lets him go. Arthur then dyes his hair green, puts on full clown make-up, and dons a burgundy suit. He then dances down the stairways, fully embracing his insanity and carefree life. Burke and Garrity find Arthur dancing in the street and move in to arrest him. Arthur runs, and they chase him into the subway train where dozens of other Gotham citizens are dressed like clowns after being inspired by the murders. Arthur hides his face with a clown mask, which he steals from a protester and inadvertently starts a brawl in the train cars. As the detectives pursue Arthur, one clown gets in the way, and Burke accidentally shoots him dead when they struggle with his gun. The clowns pull the detectives out of the subway and start beating them relentlessly, allowing Arthur to get away, moving smoothly through the police forces which swarm the area.
At the TV station, Arthur meets Murray and his agent Gene (Marc Maron). Before he goes on, Arthur asks Murray to introduce him as "Joker," since Murray referred to him as such when playing his clip. Murray asks Arthur if his clown make-up has political agendas behind it to which Arthur replies, "I don't believe in that. I don't believe in anything." While waiting to be introduced, Arthur sees Murray broadcasting a clip of a struggling Arthur trying to tell a joke. This causes Arthur's mind and plans to change, and then he dances out into the spotlight. Arthur goes out as the show begins. He awkwardly tells Murray a joke, which he finds funny for its dark humor though nobody else does. After being confronted with this, Arthur continues by admitting to the subway murders. Murray and the audience slowly realize that Arthur is serious. Arthur argues that the audience only cares for the victims because Thomas Wayne spoke for them, but anyone else like Arthur would be ignored and walked over. Murray and the audience grow angrier with Arthur, but so does he. Murray scolds Arthur, which escalates into Arthur snapping and telling another joke, grinning giddily. "What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?!" he asks, only for Murray to try shutting him off before calling for the police. An enraged Arthur then screams, "You get what you fucking' deserve!" before blowing Murray's brains out in front of everyone. The audience runs away in terror, and the news of the murder immediately hits the airwaves. Arthur then laughs genuinely for the first time in his life.
Gotham is now overrun by rioting citizens dressed as clowns after hearing about what Arthur did. The Waynes leave a movie theater to find the chaos in the streets. Thomas takes his wife Martha (Carrie Louise Putrello) and Bruce into an alley, but one clown follows them and tells Thomas he is getting what he deserves using the punchline that Arthur used on the Murray Franklin show. With that, he shoots Thomas and Martha dead in front of Bruce. Meanwhile, Arthur has been arrested and is being taken by the police. Arthur looks out the window and laughs gleefully as he sees the destruction and chaos he has caused. Just then, the clowns in an ambulance run into the car, killing the cops and freeing Arthur, who is injured and unconscious. When he awakes, Arthur finds himself surrounded by a mob of cheering mobsters in clown masks. The rioters then cheer Arthur on as he stands on a car and embraces their admiration, now that he has gotten the recognition he has long desired. He dances to their cheering and then pauses, finding that his nose is bleeding profusely. He then spreads the blood across his upper lip and grins before standing before them, elevated like a god.
Sometime later, Arthur is locked up in Arkham Asylum. He laughs after telling this story and visualizes a young Bruce standing over his parents in the alley. Realizing that he has, in a way, turned Bruce into himself, Arthur laughs some more, finding this genuinely hilarious. He meets a new social worker (April Grace) and says he wants to tell her a joke, but she wouldn't get it. A few minutes later, Arthur then steps out of the room, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind before he is chased around by orderlies.
== Cast ==
* Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck / Joker: A mentally ill, impoverished party clown and stand-up comedian disregarded by society, whose history of abuse causes him to become a nihilistic criminal with a clown motif. Phoenix had been interested in a low-budget "character study" of a comic book character, and said the film "feels unique, it is its own world in some ways, and maybe [...] It might as well be the thing that scares you the most." Phoenix lost in preparation, and based his laugh on "videos of people suffering from pathological laughter." He also sought to portray a character who audiences could not identify with and did not look to previous Joker actors for inspiration; instead, he read a book about political assassinations so he could understand killers and motivations. Director Todd Phillips said that he intentionally left it ambiguous as to whether Arthur becomes the Joker of traditional Batman stories or inspires a separate character, although Phoenix believes that Arthur is the former.
* Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin: A talk show host who plays a role in Arthur's downfall. De Niro said his role in Joker pays homage to his character from The King of Comedy (1983), Rupert Pupkin, who is a comedian obsessed with a talk-show host.
* Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond: A cynical single mother and Arthur's "love interest". Beetz, a "huge fan" of Phoenix, said that it was "an honor" to co-star with him, and that she learned a lot working with him on set.
* Frances Conroy as Penny Fleck: Arthur's mentally and physically ill mother, who formerly worked for Thomas Wayne. The Canadian actress Hannah Gross portrays a young Penny.
==Reception==
===Box office===
Joker grossed $335.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $865.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.326 billion. It is the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2019 and the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, as well as the first R-rated film to pass the billion-dollar mark.
Joker opened in 4,758 theaters in North America and made $48.9 million on its first day, including $25.3 million from Thursday night previews, besting Venom's respective October records. It went on to break Venom's record for the biggest October opening, finishing the weekend with a domestic total of $96.2 million. The film set career records for Phoenix, Phillips, and De Niro, and was the fourth-largest debut for an R-rated film of all time. It was also Warner Bros.' biggest domestic opening in two years. In its second weekend the film fell just 41.8% to $55.9 million, remaining in first and marking the best second-weekend October total (besting Gravity's $43.1 million in 2013). It made $29.2 million in its third weekend and $19.2 million in its fourth, finishing second behind Maleficent: Mistress of Evil both times.
Worldwide, the film was projected to debut to around $155 million, including $75 million from 73 overseas territories. It made $5.4 million from four countries on its first day and $18.7 million from 47 in its second, for a two-day total of $24.6 million. It went on to greatly exceed expectations, making $140.5 million from overseas territories and a total $234 million worldwide. Its largest markets were South Korea (a Warner Bros. record $16.3 million), the United Kingdom ($14.8 million), Mexico ($13.1 million) and Japan ($7 million). With this, it became the biggest worldwide opening for an October film. During its second weekend, the film made an additional $125.7 million worldwide, and $77.9 million in its third. By this point, industry analysts expected Joker to become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, with some suggesting that it could finish its run with over $1 billion. The film became the highest-grossing R-rated film in its fourth weekend, during which it grossed $47.8 million overseas, and passed the billion-dollar mark about a month into its theatrical release.
===Critical response===
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 66% based on 749 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Joker gives its infamous central character a chillingly plausible origin story that serves as a brilliant showcase for its star – and a dark evolution for comics-inspired cinema." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60/100 based on 65 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews.", while IMDb has a 8.6/10 rating on the same site.
ComicBook.com's Brandon Davis acclaimed Joker as a groundbreaking comic book adaptation that he found scarier than most 2019 horror films. Davis compared it favorably to the 2008 Batman film The Dark Knight, praised the cinematography and performances, and called it a film that needed to be seen to be believed. Deadline Hollywood's Pete Hammond believes the film redefines the Joker and is "impossible to shake off." Hammond also praised the story and performances, and summarized the film as "a bravura piece of filmmaking that speaks to the world we are actually living in today in ways that few movies do." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said he was lost for words in describing Phoenix's performance, calling the film "gut-wrenching" and "simply stupendous."
==Difference compared to the real-life release==
*The film adds 11 minutes than real-life runtime, with some undeleted scenes were extended, but with some deleted scenes. 
Category:Films
Category:Films in Stephenverse