Joker

Score:  A-

Directed by Todd Phillips
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz
Running time: 122 minutes
Rated R

Long Story Short: Joker is a film showcasing one of the comics' most famous villains, illustrating how he came to be.  Phoenix's interpretation of this old standby is a worthy addition, and he keeps you on edge the whole time.  Controversy has erupted over its violence and other themes, but I would argue it's earned a valid, thoughtful discussion of a variety of topics.  Be prepared, but also don't be afraid to give it a shot and decide for yourself.


In a small apartment lives Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) and his mother, Penny; he struggles to support them, working as a clown and dealing with multiple mental illnesses.  They are in Gotham City, a huge metropolis with soaring towers and larger-than-life figures, but also ubiquitous crime and poverty on the streets.  While Arthur and his mother laugh each night at the antics of TV hosts like Murray Franklin (De Niro), he finds a much tougher crowd in his clown makeup.  A tragic, violent encounter on the subway one night rips apart Fleck's tenuous status quo, and he begins to delve into his personal history just as wider events threaten to swallow him.

Joker has a small cast, and nearly every moment is focused on the infamous, titular comic book villain.  Joaquin Phoenix steps into the role this time, one that has seen a wide variety of actors and styles, from Cesar Romero to Jack Nicholson to Heath Ledger.  Phoenix's Joker is front and center, of course, and so it's the most well-developed look yet at this famous character; it's also an origin story and thus (mostly) pre-Clown Prince of Crime, Batman's archenemy.  Both physically and psychologically, Phoenix is disturbing yet spellbinding.  The tone of his voice makes him sound like a boy, and indeed he behaves childlike in most scenes, unsettling yet understandable due to his upbringing and mental problems.  Arthur is awkward in all social settings, only truly comfortable either with his mother or alone, where he often writhes and even dances, which Phoenix uses to show a certain release but also tangible sign (through his contorted physique) of long-term neglect.  One of the Joker's primary features, his laugh, is cleverly used as a manifestation of Fleck's illness, and Phoenix develops an effective one, at times innocent and pitiful, at others menacing and creepy.  Ultimately, Phoenix's Joker/Fleck is a perfect fit for this Gotham City, and his performance is one worthy of the full attention it receives in every frame.  De Niro has a small part, and one mostly at a distance, but he's a perfect fit as the idolized talk show host who also shows more underneath in a key scene.  Zazie Beetz brings her significant charisma with her to her role as Fleck's neighbor; another small part, yet still distinct and crucial to the film.  Frances Conroy and Brett Cullen are the other notable players, as Penny Fleck and Thomas Wayne, respectively, who do good work.

Joker is a contentious film, but also a highly thought-provoking one that's engrossing and well-made for the most part.  It's also, of course, a comic book adaptation, yet change some of the names here and it's really a fairly regular (if dark) thriller/character study.  The simple title is apt, because this really is all about Phoenix's Fleck.  We get a close, sometimes uncomfortably so, look at everything from his debilitating if unpredictable mental illness - including uncontrollable laughter (a stress response, it seems) and delusions - to his stressful, thankless day job as a clown (and his wary colleagues) and his evening routine with mother, seemingly unchanged over many years.  An eerie, effective score helps set the scene, too, building throughout the film.  Thanks to the city itself - which is really the co-star, in a way - the film gets narrative momentum before long, an inexorable yet often surprising and poignant journey for Fleck from a trampled nobody to his criminal destiny (ironically, revered by many).  The script is strong, much of which is captured in Fleck himself, but it also has a good flow and pacing.  The film effectively shows how the various aspects of Fleck's life - his comic aspirations, workplace, relationships - affect each other, and on top of that how key incidents change those directions subtly yet profoundly.  The comic book elements only gradually reveal themselves, and at times they are the film's clumsier moments.  Along with the psychological darkness, there is considerable physical violence.  While it makes a certain amount of sense in the context of the Joker character's history, it's obviously one of the most controversial elements; I can understand the concern over it, but most of it does at least fit appropriately in the story.  The ending is also debatable, one in which the film's restraint, which loosens along the way, breaks away completely and we get an outright horrifying vision that melds together the fate of Fleck and Gotham itself.  Wrapping things up yet representing just the beginning of a universe of comics lore, it's one that left me intrigued.

My thoughts in the week since seeing Joker have been drawn towards that path Fleck takes in becoming the Joker.  I think it's driven by a confluence of very real factors: his mental illnesses, his physical abuse as a child, and the wider society (which provides few opportunities to someone like Fleck, makes him vulnerable to random crime, and even cuts the few lifelines to treatment he depends on).  These are all distressingly realistic scenarios, ones which too many individuals face every day (obviously, in a wide variety of forms and degrees).  But this is all kindling, as bad as it has made life for Fleck.  It's the tragic coincidences and confrontations that truly turn that bad situation into an inferno.  And I don't mean to say that Arthur is innocent in all this, that he is merely a victim: he clearly makes not just wrong but evil decisions that are at least as important as those he can't control.  But a final aspect of his life that is essential to see is the lack of love and support in his life.  Without it, those crucial decisions he makes are based on knowing that he is truly alone - to fight for his own survival, to fight for revenge against his many (real and perceived) tormentors.  So as an origin story for the Joker character, it's a grim but appropriate tale.  We should be very careful, at the least, in applying anything from the film to the real world.  But I think it's important to be mindful of both the dangers and/or vulnerabilities of the above (mental illness, abuse, classism, racism) and to realize that we must love and respect one another to overcome these and other challenges.

***

Joker is one of the most hotly debated films of the year, as evidenced by a lukewarm 68% on Rotten Tomatoes, and more so by getting everything from the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion award, to scathing critiques from leading social thinkers.  As you can probably tell, I found it a fascinating film, if nothing else (I definitely need to see it again, at least).  Well-made overall (particularly Phoenix's performance), and while it is troubling or questionable in some parts, it provides an in-depth origin story for one of pop culture's most famous villain's as well as taking an unsparing look at some very real-life issues.  Beyond discussion of the explosive themes, many critics point out similarities to Martin Scorcese films like Taxi Driver.  I haven't seen them, so I can't comment on comparisons, but it's yet more to be discussed.  I don't exactly want to see a lot more comic book/superhero movies in this particular style - but it's good to see a different take on one of my favorite genres.  I do encourage most audiences to give it a try; some will love it, some will hate it, but that's just one of the things I love about the movies!



* By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60399334