Joker (2019)'s comments - page 2

Do you want to let us know what you think? Just login, after which you will be redirected back here and you can leave your comments.

heat_

Movie seems to get some mixed reviews from the audience and critics. I find the main reason for this is that movie is not a typical thriller movie. I can't classify this movie as a comic adaptation, superhero or a classical DC universe movie either. This movie sets the bar too high for these genres. Almost can't find a single hole in terms of cinematography, storytelling, casting, acting.
Pause the movie at any given point and nearly all of the frames are photographs. That is something we don't expect to find in a typical thriller movie.
I just don't want to repeat the generic term however this movie is a masterpiece.

4 years 6 months ago

Gordon_Gekko

I guess yesterday I saw the winning performance for "best actor. Well done Mr. Phoenix!

The film itself reminds me - maybe because he's in the supporting cast - of a mix of two De Niro-movies: Taxi Driver and King of Comedy.

4 years 6 months ago

MrDoog

Phoenix does a very good job.
It's a slow burner.
It has its moments.
It's not an easy watch.
There's a lot of social commentary.

I'd give it a solid 7.5/10, though I could see it being a very polarising film where some give it a 9 or 10 out of 10 while others give it a very low 4 or 5.

4 years 6 months ago

Earring72

Grimm 70ies style drama. Well cast and feels like Scorsese/taxi driver kind of a movie. Not sure about the real entertainment value but well made DRAMA. This is not a comic book super hero movie.

2 years 9 months ago

Linkmaster89

A wild immersive and scary dance into the darkness. Great!

2 years 11 months ago

boulderman

I forgot to check this! I was amazed! 9/10 I have read the script too. Bradley Cooper had a big hand in the pacing, editing and direction of this. It is more than The King of Comedy, Mean Streets et al

3 years 11 months ago

bklooney

I could have just watched Taxi Driver again. That being said, I think it's interesting how the story manages to recontextualize the Wayne family in the history of Gotham and sets their eventual murder (the catalyst for Batman) as an inevitable outgrowth of their indifference to the people of Gotham.

Following the thread of this movie, Batman becomes the inheritor of not just the Wayne's fortune, but also their position of power in a vastly economically stratified society. A Batman in the world of "Joker" would be a victim of societal violence that spends most of his time meting out punishment toward people who have been broken by a system by which he benefits. He would overtly be an oppressive force where his family had been only using the soft power of capital.

4 years 3 months ago

Camille Deadpan

I loved all the references of one of my favourite movies - The man who laughs.

4 years 3 months ago

lekast

who said Taxi Driver?

4 years 5 months ago

audiopile

Great acting and i really like how the story grew into the climax. I wish they didnt try to put in moral story message crap though. It ruined the film for me.

4 years 3 months ago

BoiledFish

DC's renaissance!

4 years 6 months ago

gbpxl

I just left the theater about 20 minutes ago (and walked past a private security truck parked outside the theater during a matinee. Had never noticed that before in all the times Ive gone here.) I don't know how this film got made. I have seen hundreds of movies over the years but this one just knocked me on my ass. I was wide-eyed throughout most of the film, and fighting back tears watching this character suffering from severe mental illness go from sweet and innocent to just absolutely f***ing stark raving lunatic. I have never seen an actor so dedicated to his performance in all my life. If there were ever a film that deserved an R-rating, THIS IS IT. It is not only possibly the darkest film I have ever seen but the film's messages are likely to be interpreted as a justification for violence for many of the wayward souls watching this film. And not only that but in an era where people have been dressing like clowns in real life, scaring people, shooting up theaters dressed as the *JOKER,* and the heated political rhetoric of "us vs. them," "rich vs. poor" and the omnipresent bullying and stigma against mental illness that seems to have always been around, it just absolutely floors me that this film was made.

It's not for the faint-hearted and I actually saw a theatergoer jump at one of the more particularly violent scenes. That is something that is very hard to do these days with so many of us being desensitized to violence. But it's a testament to how realistic and dramatic this film is.

I hung on every word of dialogue in the film, and Im not sure if I blinked during the entire two hours. I have never felt empathy for a character who does the most unspeakable things on film, and so for that I'd say it is easily the ballsiest film ever made. And I feel privleged to be able to say I was able to see this film. Bravo.

4 years 6 months ago

DaniloFreiles

Ottima interpretazione di Joaquin Phoenix di un uomo (sotto la pressione di una società bigotta) che esplodendo diventa il paladino degli emarginati.

4 years 4 months ago

ikkegoemikke

I just hope my death makes
more cents than my life.

Weltschmerz. Despair. Grief. Desperation. Those are the keywords that came to mind after watching this movie. If you are a superhero film fan and you expect heroic confrontations between this crazy clown and our bats-related superhero in a tight latex suit, you can safely turn around and skip this film. The interpretation of “The Joker” by Jack Nicholson was masterful. He played a mean Joker who was obsessed with money and power. But without a doubt, Heath Ledger’s interpretation is the most legendary. He played Joker’s insanity and psychopathic behavior in an unparalleled way. An outstanding acting performance. What Joaquin Phoenix does in this film, however, is breathtaking and brilliant at the same time. After “You were never really here” I thought Phoenix belonged to the leading group of excellent actors. After “Joker“, for me anyway, he’s already the front-runner in that group.

I am not easily impressed by a movie. But “Joker” made an immense impression on me. And not because of the violence. By the way, I found the reports of people leaving the cinema prematurely, because it became too intense, grossly exaggerated. Every average action movie today is filled with aggressive scenes full of senseless violence. I was more overwhelmed by a constant uncomfortable feeling while watching this film. A feeling of pity and vicarious shame. For Arthur Fleck, as well as for the fellow citizens he meets in his daily life. For me, the saddest scene was the stand-up comedy moment. You know Arthur’s performance will be completely ridiculous and that his would-be funny performance will backfire in his face. The most significant scene was the one with the over-concerned mother in the subway who shouts at Arthur and tells him to stop intimidating her child. After his hysterical laughing, she turns her back on him anxiously. Pitiful. Confronting. Enough incentive to derail the psyché of this disturbed soul.

Joaquin Phoenix is phenomenal. Not only is he extremely psychologically vulnerable. Also physically he looks emaciated and fragile. Little more than skin and bone. It looked as if his rib cage would burst out of his body. And his shoulder blades could be ripping through his skin at any time. Skin like yellow parchment full of cracks. Just like his by antidepressants ravaged morbid mind. Antidepressants that are needed to control his uncontrollable laughter and help him through his measly existence. A hopeless life without understanding and loving feelings. Except toward his mother (Frances Conroy). An old woman who sits all day in her seat. Demented. Fading away. With a daily routine of writing letters to Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen), father of Bruce Wayne and future mayor of Gotham, asking if he could help them.

“Joker” is not a relaxing film. It’s depressing to see how such an individual is harassed and spit out by society. Not a day goes by without being scorned, physically abused or treated as a leprosy patient. This downward spiral he’s getting into creates an explosive moment in which he takes matters into his own hands, resulting in a disastrous outcome. The discharge that follows afterward, has been portrayed both frighteningly and magically. That unreal and silly dance in the public toilet is probably a moment of realization that his life is at a tipping point. And without realizing it, he becomes the symbolic force behind a movement against injustices in society. A sort of evil, insane Katniss Everdeen for the outcasts. And although many don’t like to hear this, the number of similarities with our current society is alarmingly high.

Yes, “Joker” is a sort of origin story of Batman’s most infamous archenemy. On the other hand, this could be the portrait of so many others as well. Everyday people who struggle with their personality and fall through the cracks and out of the system at all levels. Individuals who are often driven into a corner and cultivate a destructive hatred toward everything and everyone. And then there’s a day their fuse blows and they resort to actions that aren’t tolerated by modern society. Not that I approve of these actions but I think it’s kind of logical consequence. “Joker” is not part of a superhero universe. This film is more realistic than any psycho-dramatic film. A film that shows how an underdog grows into a monstrous tormentor who preaches chaos and destruction. A numb, sick mind that doesn’t care. The harder you pound him, the louder his laugh. The movie “Joker” helped me understand who that figure is and where he comes from. For me the most impressive film out of the superheroes potpourri that we’ve seen these few last years. And for my part, a well-deserved Oscar statuette for Joaquin Phoenix. He’ll certainly be laughing about it uncontrollably the evening of the award ceremony.

More reviews here

4 years 5 months ago

On cinema at the cinema

An absolute masterpiece. It felt so close to home in so many different ways, I actually almost cried during the movie. Plan on seeing it multiple times.

4 years 6 months ago