Joker

(spoilers!)

I wasn't going to write a review for this because 1. the last thing I want is insecure "men" who identify with the lead character writing nonsense in my comment section 2. this movie doesn't actually deserve my - or anyone's - words, but this is entirely too long for my letterboxd so here we go. Call me a c*nt, you ain't getting published, honey.

Joker is on the heels of making a billion dollars in the box office and while it is not as embarrassing as people giving so much money last year to Bohemian Rhapsody, willingly giving its pedophile rapist director/producer cash (this is exactly what they did if they paid to see it, they made a pedophile rapist richer), it's also pretty damn embarrassing. I noticed that it is mostly very young people who love this movie which just solidifies my belief that every generation is worse than the last. It used to be that the great, original movies influenced pop culture. Now it's recycled, boring messes like this one.
This film is truly an extraordinary accomplishment in that Todd Philips managed to make a movie that is so overstuffed yet so dull and so beautifully shot (that 3/10 rating is entirely for it) yet so deeply unpleasant to watch. It's as if a drunk monkey watched Taxi Driver and Fight Club and in between throwing feces took a shot at film-making thinking it can pull something as great as those off.

As I was watching this mess and the youths beat him up, soulless government took his treatment away and his mother (it's always the woman's fault, isn't it?) turned out to be awful, all I could think of were Brad Pitt's lines in Se7en - "Who knows. So many freaks out there doin' their little evil deeds they don't wanna do... 'The voices made me do it. My dog made me do it. Jodie Foster told me to do it.". Maybe that's why this movie earned so much money, because people out there love lazy and easy excuses for their own failures and love to project their shit on movie characters. But couldn't people find an actual good movie to project on?
There's no explanation as to why this grown ass man wanted to make a living playing a clown. If this is the career path you pursue, you make your own bed and open yourself up to ridicule. He is also a total idiot who dances around with a loaded gun in his apartment and then brings a gun to a children's hospital, keeps it on him and starts dancing and then aw, shucks! The gun falls out in front of the children. Am I supposed to be sympathizing with this guy? Half of the bad shit that happens to him is his own fault. My favorite by far was when he goes on stage to tell jokes, bombs since he has no talent and then blames everyone for ridiculing him. Oh no! He has no talent and cannot become a successful comedian! What injustice!

If THIS is the guy that audiences find relatable then I am literally afraid of leaving my house ever again.
There's also insanely clumsy way that the movie tries to tie in Arthur's violent outburst, which was naturally in self-defense (this character is Joker in name only), with growing social movement in Gotham City. He kills some dudes and apparently that is enough to inspire people for them to dress up us clowns. It would be funny how poorly written it was, except in real life this stupid movie inspired people to do the same, so instead of laughing I am straight up depressed.

Since Phillips has enough self-awareness to know there is barely any story here he throws in a ridiculous storyline involving Thomas Wayne that leads absolutely nowhere except giving us Bruce Wayne and Alfred's appearances and another rendition of the Waynes getting murdered. All of that only makes it more boring. Also if you put yourself in Thomas Wayne's shoes Arthur is lucky he didn't face worse consequences just for his interactions with Bruce and Thomas and the shit he said and did.
Then there are totally inept instances of Phillips trying to get people to sympathize with this guy. There's an atrociously written and directed moment where Arthur witnesses a bunch of men harassing a woman on the subway. But it doesn't lead to Arthur helping this woman, so all it accomplishes is portraying him to be chickenshit. Him being a coward makes no difference because he gets beaten up anyways. Had he actually helped this woman at least it would make me care about him, but he didn't, so what the fuck was that scene? But the worst offender is portraying the social worker to be always asking the same questions, implication being that she cares very little about helping Arthur etc. And when you think about it she was probably someone who gets paid very little and is exhausted, and in a lot of ways 'society' treated her just like Arthur. And at least she was in a field where she tried to help. But fuck her, right?

It's absolutely hysterical how extra this movie is. He doesn't get beaten up once but TWICE. He isn't on one medication but on SEVEN. In addition to being weird and awkward he also has CONDITION where he laughs with no control over it (that leads to an exposition dump so clumsy, I couldn't believe my own eyes). Not only is he mentally ill, poor, lonely and abandoned but he was also ABUSED as a chold. It's like male version of Precious. Then there is a predictable and lazy twist because why not, let's add DELUSIONS to the mix. There's also a moment where he gets into fridge, because, what was that exactly? And there's a fantasy sequence on a talk show that was not only a Requiem for a Dream rip-off but Phoenix's acting in it was absolutely laughable.
Throughout the movie Phoenix visibly tries so hard to be edgy and it's embarrassing to watch. It doesn't help that the script has no subtlety or trace of nuance. Adam Driver please save us from him winning an Oscar for this. Phoenix's Joker is such a miserable, dumb and flamboyant caricature that it manages to make Heath Ledger's Joker look even more amazing and brilliant. Phillips actually has the audacity to reference the famous shot of the Joker in the cop car from The Dark Knight. Jesus Christ, the nerve. Then there is the score that is basically just one sound stretched to unbearable lengths and the editing....some of the people out there gave this movie 5 out of 5 stars when it has such a hilarious goof with cigarette suddenly appearing back in his cringy dance scene. Well done.

Thank God for Robert De Niro who does good work and plays a voice of reason in this movie. Somehow this whole thing is even more putrid than latest Tarantino. There's even a moment when Arthur actually stalks his female neighbor but I guess that is OK because he is troubled, huh? May those who worship this movie and pose on those stairs fall the fuck off them.
30/100 (2019, 122 min)
Plot: In Gotham City, mentally-troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: "The Joker".
Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz