Classic Film Review #3: Joker (2019)

Available on: Netflix

Todd Phillips' reimagining of one of the most fervently debated comic book origin stories certainly stirred up more controversy than most films could hope to prior to release. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and landing Joaquin Phoenix an Academy Award for his eponymous lead performance, Joker was also accused of sympathising with incel culture and painting male rage in a sympathetic light.

Is Joker as problematic as those critics suggested? In today's uber sensitive world, maybe. But it is also a fascinating character study that features one of the most harrowing performances of Phoenix's career. One that presents a 'superhero' film devoid of any CGI or garish special effects, instead focusing on good old-fashioned storytelling.

It is not devoid of flaws, but the performance of the aforementioned lead is worth the price of entry alone. It’s well-known that any actor that takes this role typically give it everything they've got, and Phoenix does that and then some. His physical transformation is clear to see, but the strongest elements of his performance are in the finer touches. The relentless buckling of the knee, the nervous and maniacal bouts of laughter, even the way he smokes a cigarette...everything is foreshadowing a darker turn of events.

Whether it can be considered the definitive version of the character is immaterial. Plenty of actors have done great work as the Joker and it is an exercise in folly to try and crown one as the one true Clown Prince of Crime. But Phoenix's version definitely stands up to anything we've seen before. He is simply mesmeric from beginning to last.

To me, Joker doesn't ask you to sympathise with its antagonist. It asks you to consider the circumstances that could make him. Just like so many of the halcyon 1970s film it is so clearly indebted to (Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy being foremost among them), the film shines a light on the underbelly of society and chronicles how a bad turn of events can lead a marginalised person to take drastic action against his perceived tormentors.

Perhaps that assessment means I'm out-of-touch. Either way, I'd take this over the majority of comic-book films I've watched over the last decade.