Joker (2019)

Joker (2019)

7/10

Starring

Joaquin Phoenix

Directed by Todd Phillips

I have never doubted Joaquin Phoenix, he is one of the best actors out there. If you have seen movies from way back like Gladiator (2000) and more recent Her (2013), his range of talent will amaze you.

The Joker is an amazing movie, it dives deep into a depressed life by the lead Arthur Fleck, played by Phoenix.

The movie is based on characters from the D.C. comics Batman Universe. The story draws influence from a D.C. comic titled Batman: The Killing Joke written in 1988 and an animation to it was done in 2016.

Phoenix nailed the laugh to which we have come to associate with the joker character, wild and hysterical. The movie got an R rating for its violence and disturbing content, and you can understand why when you see the film. Here is a man with a disorder which makes him laugh and smile at awkward moments at things that are ordinary and nowhere near funny. He suffers from other mental problems and has to be on his meds to keep his head straight. Guess what happens when he no longer has access to such meds, the chaos is this here movie.

Set in 1981, we have a party clown who is off his rockers. As described above this unstable clown is Arthur Fleck who lives with his unemployed mother who used to work for Thomas Wayne. He and his mother live in Gotham City and with the rise in crime and disorder, Arthur's state of mind is starting to go down the toilet.

Things got worse when unemployment hits Arthur, as a result of someone who called himself a friend of his lied on him and he loses his job. It finally goes chaotic when he was attacked on his way home from losing his job. He defended himself and ended up killing the two of the three people who attacked him in self defense and the third he willfully executed.

After losing his job Arthur tries his hand on stand up comedy, and he stinks. Then Gotham got worse and Arthur could no longer get his meds because funding were cut to the program which distributed them. We now have a mad man on the loose.

This movie was written, produced and directed by Todd Phillips. Arguable this can be termed as one of his best movies till date.

I highly recommend you go see this movie not with the family because of the disturbing content. The movie was a critical and commercial success and I do not see any reason why Joaquin Phoenix should not get awarded for this.

D.C. is planing to make this movie a one-off on the character Phoenix played and I so wish they could have continued to build on it. The movie ended when the character of the Batman was formed which would have made the second part another amazing thriller to watch.