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Joker. Arthur Fleck is a downtrodden man with mental health issues, struggling to make a living as a clown and look after his sick mother. But in a city ripe with crime, cruelty and rampant disinterest in the welfare of others, a series of unpleasant happenings begin to increasingly disconnect him from reality... Joaquin Phoenix gives an excellent performance in what is certainly a very unusual comic book movie, solely from the perspective of a troubled but not unsympathetic man who will soon become a notorious criminal lunatic. Different, but good. |
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poster-joker-movie.jpg Yep! Dark, grim, bleak and violent. Excellent performance by Joaquin Phoenix. |
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JOKER Set in New York in 1981, this origin story of one of DC's most famous antagonists is not an easy film to watch. It is dark and brutal at times, often uncomfortable viewing and, like its characters, is a narrative without any redeeming features. It's also a film which surprised me with Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of the title character, not because I didn't think he was capable of a great performance, but because it was better than Heath Ledger's The Joker in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, a performance I thought set a bar for superhero antagonists which would never be reached. Phoenix does not only reach that bar, but surpasses Ledger's performance. The casting of Robert De Niro as a TV host who acts as an inspiration for Phoenix's Arthur Fleck, an aspiring stand-up comedian is an interesting choice because Fleck has more in common with Travis Bickel and Rupert Pupkin from Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, respectively, than any previous film version of a DC villain. Fleck isn't a comic book super villain of the sort I pictured from Batman: The Killing Joke or any previous Batman films but more like the sort of misanthropic sociopath or psychopath you would find in a psychological thriller or horror film. As well as the De Niro characters mentioned above, he physically resembles Christian Bale's Trevor Reznick (The Machinist) in his emaciated physique and chain-smoking. He is a profoundly unsettling, compelling, and powerful character who should earn Phoenix a Best Actor Oscar. I didn't think I'd see a film this dark and intense from Todd Phillips, a director most famous for helming lightweight comedies like Road Trip, Due Date, and Old School. It's a film which is incredibly well shot and edited, looking like something from the late 1970s or early '80s due to the incredible production design, set decoration, and make-up. Go see it at the cinema – you shouldn't be disappointed.
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