Summary:
A character study of Arthur Fleck, a man widely ignored and beat down by society.
My Thoughts:
“Joker” had been on my radar since it was announced a long ways back (when was it they first announced this movie? 2017, maybe?), and I’d been more or less anticipating since it first popped up; I think Joaquin Phoenix is a great actor, and I think the Joker is one of the more interesting villains in the comic book world (DC or Marvel). I was nervous for a few reasons; mostly because of the involvement of Todd Phillips (the director of “The Hangover” trilogy), but also because we’ve seen quite a few iterations of the Joker at this point, one of which even posthumously earned the late Heath Ledger his Oscar. So, wondered I as I sat, waiting patiently in the darkened theater for my movie to start, what is it that Phoenix and Phillips can bring to this character that warrants another telling of his story?
Well, it turns out they bring quite a bit to this story; it’s not perfect, and I think now, the morning after I’ve seen the film, the initial golden-filter I saw it through has begun to fade away and I see this film for what it is: a flawed, but very good character study that has something important that it wants to say, and that’s where I think this film succeeds the most: in screaming, at mind-numbing decibels, that what it’s trying to say is important and it needs attention.
“Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?”
Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix, “Gladiator”) is a man with mental disability that causes him to laugh at inopportune times; he takes medication for his illness (though it does little to help) and lives with his mother (Frances Conroy, “The Wicker Man” (2006)) in a grubby little apartment building in NYC. Arthur works as a clown by day and performs as a stand up comedian by night, but his condition continues to cause problems. Arthur is also slightly obsessed with his neighbor Sophie (Zazie Beetz, “Deadpool 2”) and television personality Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro, “Taxi Driver”).
So first and foremost, lets talk about Joaquin’s performance and how it compares to some of the other Joker portrayals we’ve seen. I honestly think it’s a bit difficult to compare them side-by-side because Joaquin’s Joker is pretty far removed from the rest of the DC universe (even though there are appearances by Bruce Wayne and Co in this film). The Joker in this movie is not about some chaotic force going up against good, like “The Dark Knight”, instead Joker in this film is meant to represent the outcast, the downtrodden, the people in society that drew the short straw and got the boot. Arthur Fleck is a more human Joker than we’ve ever seen, because we’re seeing him not after he’s snapped and come up with some great diabolical plan which Batman is forced to thwart, we’re seeing him as he’s still trying to fit into society, as he’s still trying to make connections with people and make the best of his life. Watching Arthur dance along the knife’s-edge of madness and sanity is painful, it’s uncomfortable and disheartening. This is not a fun movie; I have a hard time even calling it a comic book movie, because the film is really not about the Joker as a villain rising to his station. The Joker (or Arthur Fleck’s character) is meant to be a representation of every outcast in society that has tried various methods of trying to gain acceptance and approval with no avail, and suddenly, they snap, and they take it upon themselves to change the world in a violent, destructive way.
So, lets talk about this film’s message, which, in my opinion, works to this film’s advantage and disadvantage in multiple ways. This movie is about the gun violence argument that is incredibly prevalent in today’s society; we’ve all heard the differing opinions that the problem is about Mental Health; or is about Gun Laws? What’s to be done, if there is anything to be done at all? This movie brings that question to the front and center stage, and I think the decision to do that will polarize audiences. I think what I appreciated most about the way that this film brings the question to the forefront of the audiences’ minds is that this movie does claim to have any answers at all, instead it simply shows us the gravity of the problem as if to say: mental health? Gun laws? Who really gives a f*ck what the problem is? No one is doing anything right now and the world is engulfed in flames. This film is a bleak, brutal, beautifully harsh wake up call saying that society as a whole is damaged, and we need to do something, or we’re just going to keep producing more Arthur Flecks, more Jokers, more psychopaths that perch in tenebrous hotel rooms and rain thousands of rounds down on a horde of innocent, unsuspecting people. We’re doing nothing to stop this from happening again, and again, and again and this movie suggests that society doing nothing to prevent the next attack is perhaps just as crazy as those perpetrators who plot the destruction of the innocent.
Verdict:
I, personally, really enjoyed this film. There are a few mild pacing issues in the middle of the movie, and some of the stuff they shoehorn in as far as Gotham references weren’t entirely needed, but I do think that Joaquin’s acting and especially the themes make this film worth watching. The last fifteen minutes of this movie just really come together to form a glorious marriage of madness, mayhem, and meaningful messages.
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