Joker Review

4 Stars

Since Cesar Romero's first on-screen portrayal of the Joker in the Adam West's Batman television series in 1966, every actor who took on the role of the Caped Crusader and everyone who wore the white painted face of his arch nemesis Joker has been debated over who did it best; and, sometimes, who did it worst.  After Adam West, of course, Tim Burton cast Michael Keaton as billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne with the iconic Jack Nicholson as the psychotic clown, bringing new life and depth and realism to the comic book characters.

Val Kilmer and George Clooney took the beautiful, dark realistic world of Gotham back to a 1960's level of campy and absurd as they both made strong cases among critics as to who would be the worst Batman.  It's still a pretty close race.

Christopher Nolan re-vitalized the franchise, but not how he originally intended.  He fought to get up-and-coming actor Heath Ledger to put on the pointy-eared Bat Costume, but Ledger passed and Christian Bale took the role.  The disappointment turned to triumph, however, in the second of the Nolan Batman trilogy as Ledger gave a masterful performance as Joker.

Jared Leto took the character in another direction in Suicide Squad and Shameless actor Cameron Monaghan did so in the TV series Gotham.  And, while there are heated debates over which Batman was portrayed best, and also who failed in their attempts, the arguments for best Joker are harder since each was so unique and successful in their own way at their own time.  And I have not heard of many arguments for who was the worst Joker.  

Well, now you can add Joaquin Phoenix to the list of memorable, palpable, unique visions for Joker brought to life.  Set in Gotham in the 1970s, we are introduced to failed comedian Arthur Fleck who works odd jobs as a clown to try to make ends meet and support his aging mother.  The film opens with a group of punk kids stealing Fleck's advertisement sign he is being paid to hold.  He chases them down, but when he catches up to him, they give him a severe beating.  The next scene shows Fleck on a public bus sitting behind a young boy and his mother.  Fleck makes a couple funny faces to the child's delight.  The mother quickly chides him for bothering them.  He tries to explain that he wasn't bothering the boy, but the intense feeling of judgment and anger coming from the mother sends Fleck into an uncontrollable fit of awkward laughter.  He hands the mother a card that explains he suffers from a medical condition that forces him to laugh inappropriately and that his external outbursts are not a reflection of his actual feelings.

Fleck dreams of making it big as a comedian like his idol, talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert DeNiro).  We are brought along on his tragic journey into darkness as the attacks on his physical body, his emotional well-being and his very soul are relentless.  Each time we think a glimmer of something good is going to happen for Fleck, it is quickly snatched away from either Fleck or from the audience member.  Whether he is successfully entertaining patients in a hospital, being acknowledged and welcomed by Murray, meeting a nice girl who takes an interest in him, or getting a few laughs during his attempt at stand-up comedy, he either wakes from the daydream or somehow ruins the moment himself.

After one such incident, he is on a train heading home, dejected once again.  Three Wall Street frat boys are harassing a woman on the train.  Of course Fleck can't help but laugh.  The woman gets away, but the boys deliver another beating.  And that's the straw that broke his back.  He pulls out a revolver and kills all three of them in a scene that really messes with the audience's emotions.  You hate the boys for the way they treat the woman.  You sympathize with Fleck who has not done anything wrong.  You hate the boys even more for beating him down and feel even worse for Fleck than you did a moment ago and you hope and pray they don't get away with it.  But when he pulls out the gun and shoots them, it's a shock.  It is the brutal justice you were hoping for, but now are questioning if that's really how you wanted it.

And that begins, the decent into psychosis, but also the praise and adoration for the vigilante clown.  The acclaim of his persona and the justification of his action further propels him into his more confident, take-no-crap, dole-out-justice clown alter-ego, the Joker.  

The film is intense, tragic, deliberate, methodical, sad and horrifying.  Phoenix's portrayal does what no other Joker has done by extensively creating a detailed back-story leading up to his existence.  A story that gains your sympathy and compassion and understanding of who he is and why.  You don't support his gruesome actions, but you can't completely condemn them either.  

Joker is filled with both classic hits from Frank Sinatra, Cream, Fred Astaire, Jimmy Durante and more from the 1970's.  But the film's score is mostly a lone cello that is haunting, unsettling, disturbing and perfectly appropriate for Fleck.  Peter and the Wolf used very specific instruments for each character in the story.  Films like Star Wars created theme songs for its main characters.  Without even looking, you would know who was on the screen just by hearing their song.  The dull, but intentional cello is the perfect score for Fleck.

My only critique from the previews versus the actual film is that it doesn't really prepare you for the graphic violence at the hands of the insane clown.  Not that I have a problem with it.  Nicholson and Ledger's characters were both violent to the degree they were allowed at the time of their filming.  And not that the violence isn't completely warranted for the character or the story and not just there for the sake of violence.  I just wasn't prepared for that from the previews.  

Joker was emotionally draining, it was tragically sad and disturbingly brutal, both what Fleck endured and what he inflicted.  Phoenix was convincing, captivating and brilliant in his performance that lands him as an early contender for Best Actor once the Oscars are announced.  And, though we're just getting started with Oscar season, it's not hard to see Joker being nominated for several others including Best Picture.  I originally gave Joker a 4 Star Prediction.  Based on one of my criteria for grading, I would be inclined to knock it down a half star for the slightly less-than-honest preview.  But Phoenix's performance would bring that right back up again.  I'm going to stick with my original estimation and give Joker a sold 4 Stars.  It was well worth the money in the theatres, it's one I'm still talking about and will be analyzing for days to come, I'd like to see it again, and it has a strong chance of making it to my home collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Joker Preview

Batman first appeared in the comic book Detective Comics #27 in 1939.  A year later, he had his own comic book.  And in the very first edition, we were introduced to his arch nemesis, Joker.  Batman and Joker first came to life in the 1960's with Adam West in the role of the Caped Crusader and Cesar Romero as Joker.   They made a movie from the TV series in 1966, but it wasn't until 1989 that the dark, odd, beautiful, genius mind of Tim Burton unleashed a Batman movie that arguably is the reason the character is still popular to this day.  Mega movie star Michael Keaton wore the pointy-eared costume.  Instead of the powder blue that West had donned, his was all black with accents of yellow on his belt and chest bat-emblem.  The Joker was masterfully performed by Jack Nicholson.  The movie resulted in three additional films with Burton directing Batman Returns before the franchise took a nose dive with Val Kilmer and George Clooney taking over the role.  But this isn't about Batman, it's about Joker.  So I digress. 

Batman, the Animated Series was next with Star Wars' Mark Hamill lending his vocal talents to the animated Joker in the 1990's.  In 2005, Christopher Nolan took the movies to an even darker place with Christian Bale as Batman.  He originally wanted Heath Ledger to play the role, but fans were much happier that he signed on the play the white-faced villain in the second movie in the trilogy in 2008.  The TV Series Gotham traced the beginnings of Detective Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne in his teens.  Shameless star Cameron Monaghan played twins Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska that lead to the Joker character.  In 2016, it was Jared Leto's turn in Suicide Squad, which was the first time we saw Joker without Batman chasing him down.

And now, in 2019, it's Joaquin Phoenix's turn to play the tragic, psychopathic clown known as Joker.  As many times as the Joker role has been performed, there have been as many back-stories told about who he is and how he came about to be.  The preview for 2019's Joker portrays him as a failed comedian Arthur Fleck who is publicly mocked, is beaten, is cast out by society and drives him down a spiraling decent into madness.  The result: the Joker.

The preview shows Fleck on a bus making silly faces for a small boy who laughs with delight.  The boy's mother demands he stop bothering them and gives a nasty, glaring, disapproving look that makes him sheepishly apologize.  We see him dressed as a clown, holding an advertisement sign on a sidewalk.  Bullies take his sign and beat him down in an alley.  He is in a hospital and there is a girl in the hospital bed beside him.  It is unclear their relationship, but it is obvious that she is the patient and he is the visitor.  On the television, he lights up with excitement as a popular comedy talk show host mentions his routine.  His excitement turns when he sees the host is only mocking him for having no talent or humor.  And then things turn chaotic, which is really the common theme with every Joker: inciting chaos, disrupting the status quo, making people crazy - like him.  At the end, it appears he is given a chance to appear on the very talk show that had ridiculed him, and he has a request of the host.  He asks to be introduced as Joker.

Phoenix's repertoire is quite extensive and eclectic.  His movies range from popular blockbusters like Hotel Rwanda, The Village, Signs, Walk the Line and Gladiator, to the more obscure and odd ones like Her, I'm Still Here and You Were Never Really Here.  Joker looks like the best of both his worlds.  It looks haunting and scary and yet humanizes the psychotic clown in a way that no other Joker has done before.  

Unlike Batman, it's difficult to decide who was the best Joker since each of them is so unique and brilliantly evil in their own way.  By the same token, there aren't a lot of debates over who was the worst Joker, while it's not hard to come up with a couple names when it comes to Batman's character.  From the preview, it looks like you can already add Phoenix into the mix of yet another wonderfully terrible, maniacally twisted Jokers like his predecessors before him.  I'm excited to see his creation and take on the classic villain.  The movie looks disturbing, but not in a violently gruesome way.  More in a psychologically terrorizing way.  I'm giving Joker a 4.0 Star Prediction.  I think I will enjoy it in the theatre, I'll want to see it again, and it will have a solid chance of making it to my home collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.

Her Review

3.0 Stars 

 

Her stars Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore, a writer who is going through the final stages of a divorce.  Theodore delves deeper into playing video games and escapes into the latest technological gadgets to occupy himself.  When he hears about the OS1, the world's first artificially intelligent operating system, he has to have it.  Theodore is quickly taken in with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), the voice of OS1.  He falls for the voice in his electronic box and Samantha falls for him as well.  This creates a whole new world of problems for Theodore that he never imagined, but it also opens his eyes and his heart to things he never felt before.

In the preview, Her portrays Samantha the OS1 as a computer with a personality.  She is heard telling Theodore that it's 5am and asks if he would like to try to get out of bed on time in a playful way.  She also takes the liberty of reading his emails and inquires about his recent divorce which leads to questions about love and marriage.  The preview also shows two other women in Theodore's life: Catherine (Rooney Mara) and Amy (Amy Adams).  Although it isn't clear from the preview, it seems Amy is the supportive, encouraging and understanding friend where Catherine is the condescending and judgmental sister to Theodore.  At least that's what I gathered from the clip. Actually, Amy is a good friend who is in a loveless marriage.  She fully supports Theodore in his pursuit of love, no matter who or what he finds it with.  Catherine is actually his ex wife.  They have fallen out of love because Theodore wanted all the romance with none of the reality of an actual relationship.  She thinks it silly that Theodore has fallen for a computer, but also admits that it makes sense.  

Her is nominated for 5 Oscars including Best Picture of the Year and Best Original Music.   Though none of the actors in Her were nominated for their performance, Phoenix should have been.  While Theodore struggles with relationships with humans, he still greatly desires love and affection.  One sleepless night, he calls an adult chat line.  The call is erotic in nature and quickly turns bizarre as the female on the other line wants him to choke her with a dead cat.   Theodore purchases a new personalized Operating System called the OS1.  Immediately after installing it, he is asked a couple questions about his personality and voila, the OS1 is online.  Upon asking OS1 its name, the voice replies Samantha.  She comments that she gave the name to herself because she liked the sound of it.  Due to her team of programmers, she understands sarcasm, humor, anger, sadness and quickly "feels" them for herself.  They grow together and fall in love.  Because of his relationship with Samantha, Theodore finds the strength to finalize the divorce with Catherine.  Eventually, Theodore's relationship with his OS1 meets the same fate as the one he had with Catherine; however, after losing Samantha, he is able to truly let go of his past relationships and his own past and face the future.

While I think Joaquin Phoenix might have been overlooked for an Oscar nomination for his performance in this movie, I don't think Her is deserving of the Best Picture of the Year.  I thought it was a unique story and well told and very well acted, but I felt the story was slow and honestly boring at times.  It was both sad and heart-warming and was not a "happily ever after" tale of love.  Just because someone has a new and fresh idea doesn't mean it's the best of all the films out there and I felt that Her fell short of other movies that deserve the recognition.  I gave it 3.0 stars.  I didn't think it a waste of money, but I'm not anxious to see it again and it will not be making it to my home collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Her Preview

Her stars Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore, a writer who is going through the final stages of a divorce.  Theodore delves deeper into playing video games and escapes into the latest technological gadgets to occupy himself.  When he hears about the OS1, the world's first artificially intelligent operating system, he has to have it.  Theodore is quickly taken in with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), the voice of OS1.  He falls for the voice in his electronic box and Samantha falls for him as well.  This creates a whole new world of problems for Theodore that he never imagined, but it also opens his eyes and his heart to things he never felt before.

In the preview, Her portrays Samantha the OS1 as a computer with a personality.  She is heard telling Theodore that it's 5am and asks if he would like to try to get out of bed on time in a playful way.  She also takes the liberty of reading his emails and inquires about his recent divorce which leads to questions about love and marriage.  The preview also shows two other women in Theodore's life: Catherine (Rooney Mara) and Amy (Amy Adams).  Although it isn't clear from the preview, it seems Amy is the supportive, encouraging and understanding friend where Catherine is the condescending and judgmental sister to Theodore.  At least that's what I gathered from the clip.  

Her is nominated for 5 Oscars including Best Picture of the Year and Best Original Music.   There are a couple of things that are of concern immediately for me.  None of the actors in Her were nominated for their performance, but it seems like Phoenix should have been, judging from the brief preview.  The movie is rated R which normally isn't that alarming except it earned the rating partially for sexual content and brief graphic nudity.  I really hope that doesn't imply Theodore and his OS1 having a sex scene.  However, Phoenix is usually reliable for a solid performance, I love Amy Adams in everything she does, and it's a unique idea for a movie.  Hopefully all the elements come together for a most enjoyable and touching movie.  I'm predicting a solid 4 stars, something well worth the price of admission and likely to make my home collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.