“Joker” was more than your typical popcorn flick. If you usually like to go to the theater to have a good time with your family and get away from real-world problems, this movie is not for you. This movie is an intense, deep character study that shows the main protagonist’s descent into darkness as the movie progresses.
“Joker” takes place in 1980s Gotham City, as we see Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a failed comedian, try to climb his way up the social ladder and get better gigs for his standup routine. The film illustrates the many hardships that he faces and people who mistreat him throughout the course of his life, which leads him down the path to destruction.
The first act of the movie establishes just who Arthur is. He deals with mental problems that require him to see a psychiatrist constantly. We are introduced to his mom, Penny Fleck, who he lives with and cares for since she is also mentally ill, and his next-door neighbor Sophie Dumond, who Fleck has an affection towards. From there, we begin to see Arthur’s life take a turn for the worse when he loses his job and begins to act out in public.
Slowly but surely, towards the end of the first and second acts Arthur’s sanity starts to deteriorate, especially as he sees the world around him start to crumble and turn to chaos. The things he thought he knew all turned out to be a lie, perpetrated by those he felt he could trust. This proves to be the final straw for Arthur’s humanity.
By the third act, Fleck really becomes the titular character that everyone is waiting to see, the clown prince of crime himself – the Joker. There were almost no moments that left the audience bored or not entirely invested from this point on. During key, pivotal scenes, you could hear a pin drop in the theater. The audience was on their toes trying to piece together what could possibly happen next. “Joker” could be classified as a psychological thriller, examining the world we live in and just how all it takes is one bad day to turn someone into a monster.
If you are easily disturbed or creeped out, this is not the movie for you to see, because there are several disturbing images. The score that played during the tense scenes added to the movie tremendously, giving off an ominous, eerie tone to unsettle the audience. The direction was easy to follow, but parts of the story were shrouded in mystery towards the protagonist. For the most part this is because the Joker has always been a mysterious figure with not too much really being known about him, which made the story more intriguing. If you are a fan of the Joker or not, this movie is one of the best of 2019, and is sure to be talked about for Oscar consideration.
