Joaquin Phoenix

Review of “Joker”

Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) lives a miserable life of failure and desperation. He’s a clown for hire, working out of a dingy office in Gotham City with several other men that dress up as clowns. On one of these jobs in front of a business that’s closing, Arthur’s “Going out of Business” sign is stolen by some teenagers. He chases them down an alley when they jump him and beat him up. Arthur lives in a small apartment in a rundown building with his mother Penny (Frances Conroy). Penny sends letters to her former employer, Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen) of Wayne Enterprises, asking for financial help to get out of their circumstances. Arthur meets a neighbor that lives on the same floor, Sophie (Zazie Beetz), and is immediately smitten by her, even following her to work the next day. Arthur and Penny like to watch a local talk/variety show hosted by Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro). Arthur is seeing a counselor and receiving medication to help his depression and a neurological condition that causes him to laugh uncontrollably at inappropriate times. Arthur is trying to become a standup comedian and performs at a local club. Between his laughter condition and his bad material, Arthur bombs. However, the club videotaped the performance and sent it to the Murray Franklin Show where Franklin mercilessly berates Arthur on the air. Arthur is performing as a clown at a children’s hospital when the gun he’s carrying for protection falls out of his pants. He tells his boss it’s a prop gun, but he’s fired. Arthur is riding home on the train laughing uncontrollably when he’s attacked by three Wayne Enterprises employees. He shoots and kills all three men and runs away. The police come to interrogate him as witnesses saw a man in clown makeup running away from the scene, but he isn’t home. They talk to Penny, but she has a stroke and is taken to a hospital. Thomas Wayne calls the person that killed his three employees a clown, starting a backlash against the wealthy and powerful of Gotham City, with a clown mask as a symbol of rebellion. So many people called the Murray Franklin Show about Arthur’s standup, Arthur is invited to appear on the show. Arthur’s mental state is deteriorating as secrets come out and revenge is planned.

“Joker” is that rare comic book movie that focuses on the villain. Back when Andrew Garfield was Spider-Man, Sony had plans to make a villain-centric movie about several of Spider-Man’s enemies called “The Sinister Six.” Spider-Man would have made an appearance, likely at the end to stop whatever nefarious plan the team had, but that movie was cancelled with the lackluster box office performance of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” What sets “Joker” apart is the lack of a hero to fight against him. The stage is all his and the Clown Prince of Crime does not disappoint.

Joaquin Phoenix is an actor that can wrap himself fully in a character, even disappearing into himself for his faux documentary “I’m Still Here.” In “Joker,” Phoenix nearly physically disappears as he lost over 50 pounds to play the role of a man invisible to society. His maniacal laugh and usually dead eyes show us a man with a short rope that got to the end of it a long time ago. Phoenix plays Fleck, and ultimately Joker, as a man from which one doesn’t expect brutal violence. Fleck’s killing of the Wayne Enterprises workers appears to surprise even him. The first time he fires a gun, by accident in his apartment, one could easily expect from his reaction that Fleck would swear off ever touching a gun. Violence becomes easier and easier for Fleck as the movie goes on and you can see Arthur becoming more comfortable with his brutality. Violence gives him power that he’s never had, and he becomes enamored with his death dealing. Despite the bursts of violence and uncontrolled laughter, Phoenix delivers a controlled performance, teetering on the edge of camp and madness, but pulling back to keep Arthur Fleck grounded, even as he’s losing his grip on reality.

The story for “Joker” is also very different from most comic book movies in that there are no heroes, and I don’t just mean no Batman. None of the characters are heroic in any way. Arthur’s mother is an unrealistic dreamer waiting on Thomas Wayne to rescue them. Thomas Wayne is a stone-cold capitalist with very little concern for the welfare of Gotham City’s downtrodden. None of Arthur’s co-workers are really his friends, apart from a little person that manages the office. Murray Franklin is only concerned about how Arthur can be used as a foil for his insult-based comedy. Even Sophie, who is friendly towards Arthur, isn’t exactly what she seems. With no Batman swooping in to save Gotham for at least 15 years (we see a young Bruce Wayne a couple of times), Gotham is on its own with apparently no one willing to save it.

“Joker” is rated R for strong bloody violence, disturbing behavior, language and brief sexual images. Three men are shot to death with significant blood. A character is stabbed in the eye with a pair of scissors. A character is smothered to death. Another character is shot in the head and chest. A mob overwhelms and attacks to police detectives. Arthur’s fits of laughter can be very uncomfortable to watch. He visits Arkham Asylum for information and rides an elevator with a person strapped to a gurney, screaming and struggling. I don’t recall anything sexual in the film unless they are talking about when Arthur goes to Sophie’s apartment and kisses her. Foul language is scattered.

“Joker” premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it received the Golden Lion, the festival’s highest honor. There was talk of Phoenix winning a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of a man that’s sinking into madness. Then the fear of violence similar to the Aurora, Colorado shooting at a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” began to surface (Note: Joker isn’t in that movie but the mentally ill young man that killed 20 people and injured 70 more appeared to be emulating the character with his orange-dyed hair). Then there were comparisons of Arthur Fleck to incels. Then an email to Army members warned them to be careful if they went to see the film and make sure they were prepared should violence occur. Then some critics began to pan the film for what they considered its sympathetic portrayal of a killer. Then director Todd Phillips made a statement that he gave up making comedies because it was so easy to offend people and social media’s cancel culture. Things spun out of control and most of it had little to do with the movie. It’s a good movie that mixes a classic comic book character with real world issues of socioeconomic inequality and a lack of mental health care in this country. I realize in the world of getting clicks and driving traffic to an advertising-supported website, there’s a pressure to post things, write things, print things that are designed to create controversy and encourage arguments. If there was ever an example of that kind of journalism and criticism, the writing about “Joker” is it.

“Joker” gets five stars.

Three new movies this week are hoping you are in the mood for animated Halloween-adjacent fun, some clone action and smartphone operating system that runs your life even more than the one you have now. I’ll see and review at least one of the following:

The Addams Family—

Gemini Man—

Jexi—

Listen to Comedy Tragedy Marriage where my wife and I take turns selecting movies and TV shows for the other to watch then talking about how much we love or hate them. Get it wherever you get podcasts. Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman123@gmail.com.

Reviews of “Inherent Vice” and “American Sniper”

Two very different movies about two very different subjects left me with two very different opinions. Let’s start with a film based on a Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Inherent Vice.”

Larry “Doc” Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is not your usual private detective. His office is located in a walk-in medical clinic and Doc spends more time stoned than working on any case. Arriving at his home unannounced is his former live-in girlfriend Shasta Fay Hepworth (Katherine Waterston). She is concerned her boyfriend, millionaire real estate developer Mickey Wolfmann (Eric Roberts) is the target of a plot by his wife and her boyfriend to put the businessman in a mental institution and take all his money. Doc tells Shasta he will look into it and she leaves. At the office the next day, a former prison inmate Tariq Kahlil (Michael K. Williams) hires Doc to find a former cellmate named Glen Charlock (Christopher Allen Nelson) that owes him some money. Kahlil tells Doc Charlock works as a bodyguard for Micky Wolfmann. Doc heads out to a new residential development being built by Wolfmann called Channel View Estates where he finds nothing but desert and the beginnings of a strip mall containing only one business: A massage parlor that is actually a brothel. Doc asks Jade (Hong Chau), the receptionist, if she knows Charlock and she says yes, that he comes around with the rest of his Aryan Brotherhood biker gang when they are protecting Wolfmann. Doc looks around the business briefly but is knock unconscious. He wakes up lying next to the dead body of Glen Charlock in front of the strip mall and is surrounded by police. Doc is taken downtown to talk with Lt. Det. Christian “Bigfoot” Bjornsen (Josh Brolin), a no-nonsense, beat-the-truth-out-of-you cop who also aspires to be an actor. Bigfoot tells Doc he is his prime suspect in the murder of Charlock and the recent disappearance of Mickey Wolfmann but the interview ends when Sauncho Smilax, Esq. (Benicio Del Toro), Doc’s attorney, arrives and stops the interrogation. Bigfoot doesn’t have enough to charge Doc so he lets him go. Soon after, Shasta also goes missing putting Doc into a panic as he hasn’t fully gotten over his feelings for her. During his investigation, Doc encounters drug smuggling dentists, back-from-the-dead musicians, political shenanigans and memories of Shasta, all of which make his job that much harder.

Based on Thomas Pynchon’s 2009 novel of the same name, “Inherent Vice” is another of director Paul Thomas Anderson’s microscopic looks at a tiny segment of American culture and how greed, lust and power tend to be corrupting aspects in the lives of his characters. Anderson has done similar examinations in his films “Magnolia” and “Boogie Nights.” While those films had fascinating characters and riveting stories, “Inherent Vice” is stuffed with dozens of often bizarre characters and a story that is so dense and complicated I had a hard time keeping up with who was who and how they were connected. Despite there being a resolution that directly or indirectly ties all the characters together, it is a thoroughly unentertaining two hours plus to arrive at the finish line.

The best part of “Inherent Vice” is Joaquin Phoenix. His performance is that of a man on the edge of mental and physical collapse, living on pizza, beer, cigarettes and weed. He approaches his work as a PI as nonchalantly as you and I toss away a used paper towel. Doc always has a cover story ready as he talks to people on the down low during his investigations. He will put on his one good suit and top it off with an obviously phony toupee should the need arise. Still, he is never so on the job that he would turn down a drink, or a joint, or a roll in the hay should it be offered. Doc is of such loose moral character he seems like the last person who would be hired to investigate…anything. Phoenix is so loosey goosey in his performance he makes it impossible not to watch him.

Sadly, Phoenix was the only thing I found enjoyable in the film as it moves at a rather leaden pace and so many conversations are hushed and whispered it makes hearing all dialog nearly impossible. Not that it would matter if you clearly heard every word as the story is so complicated as to require the audience to keep notes just to maintain some degree of order. I don’t mind a film that challenges the audience to pay attention but “Inherent Vice” acts like it gets bonus pay for every audience member that leaves confused. The movie isn’t really about what the audience is led to believe in the opening minutes. Exactly what it’s about is still something of a mystery to me.

“Inherent Vice” is rated R for drug use throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some violence. Numerous drugs are shown being smoked, snorted and shot up. There is one sex scene that is far from sexy. One woman is seen fully nude. There is another scene where two women are suggested to be having sex. There are also numerous depictions of nude women in art, advertising and neckties. There is some scattered violence including one man beating another man with the lid from a toilet tank. There’s also a shooting. Foul language is common.

I guess “Inherent Vice” is beyond me and I’m not smart enough to get it. Whatever the reason, I didn’t like the movie other than Joaquin Phoenix performance. It’s like swimming in wet concrete: If you work really, really hard, you’ll get somewhere with it but it isn’t worth the effort.

“Inherent Vice” gets one star out of five.

American Sniper

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy in Texas when he sees news coverage of the US Embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania. Kyle joins the Navy and enters the SEAL program, enduring rigorous and brutal physical and mental training. One night at a bar after training, Kyle meets Taya (Sienna Miller) and the pair begins a relationship that leads to marriage. At their reception, Kyle gets word he and his unit will be shipping out to Iraq where he will provide security for Marine patrols by being a sniper. Kyle is very good at his work and over the course of four tours of Iraq tallies 160 verified kills and possibly another hundred more. Also during his tours, his reputation led to a bounty being put on his head by the insurgents. An Olympic gold medal winning sharpshooter who is called Mustafa takes on the challenge and nearly succeeds. Mustafa is also responsible for the deaths of many US soldiers and he becomes as big a target for Kyle as Kyle is for Mustafa. The violence and stress causes Kyle to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and he becomes distant from Taya and his two kids and unable to relax and settle back into a normal life.

“American Sniper,” based on the book of the same name by Chris Kyle, has been adapted by director Clint Eastwood into a thrilling, tense and painful movie to watch. The battle sequences are very tense and often caused my chest to tighten with anxiety and my hands to grasp the armrests until my knuckles were sore. Even when Kyle and another soldier are sitting on a roof overlooking a patrol with nothing happening, the atmosphere is rich with dread and possible disaster. Eastwood is also able to show Kyle in his home with his wife and their painfully domestic life in such a way that it becomes more understandable why some soldiers have such a difficult time transitioning back to normal civilian life. The film shows us how Kyle slowly sinks into depression when he’s home and how he comes to life again when he goes on another tour. It seems counterintuitive but the movie explains Kyle had a deep feeling of responsibility to his fellow soldiers. Kyle is asked by a VA doctor if he felt guilt for anything he did and Kyle replies he only feels guilt for those soldiers he couldn’t save with his talents. That may make Kyle sound like some kind of saint but he is portrayed throughout the film like just a normal man who had an extraordinary gift when it came to shooting a rifle.

What makes “American Sniper” painful is knowing how the story ends. Kyle was shot to death at a gun range by another soldier who was suffering from PTSD. Kyle had received help from the VA in getting back to himself and volunteered to help other soldiers by getting them out of the hospital or their homes and taking them out to shoot target practice. In the film, Kyle is shown as both a patient teacher and a loving father. It’s this seemingly decent man who we know will die at the hands of a fellow soldier that causes pain despite his successes on the battlefield.

Bradley Cooper, who has been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, portrays Kyle as rarely getting very demonstrative for any reason. He is shown as the emotional rock of his family and of his fellow soldiers. Cooper is fantastic in the role and deserves the nomination. His Texas drawl and laid back manner exudes an air of confidence and security. Cooper as Kyle is the kind of man with whom other men want to hang around and knock back a few beers, go hunting and fishing and watch the game on Sunday. He is the quintessential Texan about whom we have all heard but weren’t sure still existed. Cooper’s performance looks effortless and he appears to occupy the skin of Kyle with ease. A couple of reviews ago I said Benedict Cumberbatch was my favorite for the Best Actor Oscar. Now I’m not as sure.

“American Sniper” is rated R for some sexual references, language throughout and strong disturbing war violence. The sexual references are scattered. The violence is consistent with many bloody head and chest shots shown. There is a scene where Kyle is watching video that shows a soldier shot in the lower leg and then the chest. That may be the most graphic of the shootings. Foul language is common.

The book “American Sniper” is based on has been the subject of a fair bit of controversy involving some of Kyle’s stories of what happened both in Iraq and here in the US. One of those stories is the subject of an on-going lawsuit involving former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura who was himself a SEAL specializing in underwater demolition. There are other stories that have drawn some scrutiny for either their accuracy or their veracity. It appears Chris Kyle liked to stretch the truth from time to time; however, what can’t be questioned is his dedication to his mission of protecting his fellow soldiers during his four tours in Iraq. “American Sniper” is both a thrilling and heartbreaking look at a warrior who had his human weaknesses just like the rest of us and should be remembered as a hero.

“American Sniper” gets five stars.

This week, three new movies with decidedly lighter subject matter hope you decide to drop some coin at the box office (and concession stand). I’ll see and review at least one of them.

The Boy Next Door—

Mordecai—

Strange Magic—

Send email to stanthemovieman@comcast.net and follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan.