(Psychological Thriller, 2019)
Based on a villainous character from one of DC Comics’ sagas – Batman!
A story about Arthur Fleck – the Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) a suspiciously mentally challenged man and social mischief with dreams to be a famous stand-up comedian. Raised by a single mother, Penny Fleck (Frances Conroy) whose mental balance was equally questionable, he grows up mentally and physically abused and maltreated by the world around him. Whatever emotion he felt was expressed through bursts of awkward laughter. Working as a clown for an agency that provides entertainment for children’s events whilst taking care of his mother, Arthur was an extremely unhappy man with self-confessed negative thoughts who was seeing a therapist. He set out bravely and excitedly to introduce himself to Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen), a wealthy businessman and politician (father to young Bruce Wayne at the time) who his mother had told him was the father he never knew and who never accepted him.
This however, turned out to be untrue as he soon discovers that his mother had suffered from delusions and had actually adopted him. The only person he trusted in this world had deceived him, and he realised that he could trust no one. This set him off emotionally and he could no longer tolerate the cruel life he was being dealt. The situation wasn’t helped by the torchlight of mock interest and ridicule his talk show idol, Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) shone on him. What unfolds is a series of unbridled bloodshed and violence upon all those who had hurt him, or he considered a problem.
Joker is a dark film set in a time of class disparity, corruption, and political strife. The lava of unrest had been bubbling up for some time and soon climaxed to eruption; the sparks from joker’s own building emotional explosion being the catalyst. It makes us come to a deeper understanding of the Joker; why and how he metamorphosed to become what we know him as today – a Gotham City villain and one of Bruce Wayne's (Batman) craziest nemesis. He’s the bad guy that we can’t completely hate due to the reluctant empathy we have for him.
The melancholy and political decay in Gotham City was very well portrayed, as well as the depiction of the 1970s era. Murray Franklin was funny and quite provoking. Robert De Niro’s acting cannot be faulted in any way. Joaquin Phoenix most definitely deserves the Oscar, Bafta and Golden Globe Best Actor awards for his role as the Joker - a simply outstanding performance!
Superbly delivered writing and directing by Todd Phillips, a versatile Director who also brought us comedies like Borat in 2006 and The Hangover Trilogy between 2009 and 2013.
Mixed reviews by viewers due to the deep emotive and psychological roller-coaster ride, but I thought it was brilliant. Rating? 9.5 out of 10.
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