JOKER (2019) ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Todd Phillips
Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz,
Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Shea Wigham
The darkest origin story ever, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the demented, tormented Joker. It's an extraordinary performance, a sort of BASE jump into the psyche of a character who's being ripped apart. Robert De Niro appears as a late-night talk-show host (shades of "The King of Comedy"), and there are references to "Taxi Driver" and Charlie Chaplin, but the ticking time bomb at the core of it all is Phoenix, dancing at the edge of the abyss, a grotesque mirror image of the madness he sees all around him: Travis Bickle for the 21st century.
