Joker review

A man once said that all it takes is one bad day to drive someone completely insane. Meet Arthur Fleck a man living with his mom who works as a clown day to day. Seemingly disregarded by society as a whole Arthur has one goal in life and that is to be a stand up comedian. The movie starts off with Arthur at one of his weekly meetings where he talks to a councilor about his daily life, how he feels and what he's been up to. And right from the get go Joaquin Phoenix grabs you and for the rest of this movie refuses to let you go. He is absolutely astounding as Arthur Fleck. I have never witnessed such a performance quite like this. He's soft at first, insanely timid but at his core he's a broken man hurt by society which he sees as a cancer. His performance is so good here that it's actually pretty impossible to put into word. The transformation and process of him slowly but surely losing his mind is disturbingly poetic in a way. Not in a long time has a movie made me feel terrified and sad for one character and that is testament to Joaquin Phoenix and Director Todd Philip's who molds it all together in such a mesmerising way.

It's not only Phoenix who is amazing here Robert De Niro is really great also as talk show host Murray Franklin who Arthur along with his mom just so happens to be a big fan of. He's a typical late night talk show host with various guests each night and one night while watching Arthur is astounded to find that one of his clips from stand up gets played on the show. Murray literally makes fun of him and his so called 'jokes' in short though it all ends in such a chaotic way that truth be told I knew what was going to happen but it's still so shocking and surreal. As tension grows in Gotham after the murder of 3 wealthy business men on a subway train a movement begins to gain momentum in the City. A movement toward the Wayne Family. One of war, protest and the fight to make better lives for everyone else in the less wealthy parts of the city. Thomas Wayne and a young Bruce Wayne show up and only adds to the seemingly underlying mythos of The Batman. 

Joker is an experience unlike any other you will see this year. It's scary to the point of being truly terrifying, it's funny (at times) and has a lead performance in Joaquin Phoenix that is something I will never, ever forget. Watching a man slowly lose grip of himself and everything else around him as his life literally crumbles apart shouldn't be something you'd enjoy but there is just something here that is utterly profound.This is a character study more than anything else and if this is the direction for DC movies going forward then I would gladly accept what this could lead to. Joker is masterpiece of this generation and the finest Comic Book style movie in quite some time. It feels real, it feels authentic and offers a heck of a lot to think about when you leave the theater. For my money this is the finest interpretation of Joker that I've ever seen put to screen in live action. This is not only the movie of 2019 this is one of the best movies of this decade. Now put on that happy face and go and see this outstanding piece of cinematic art.

★★★★★