OPENING TODAY, Joker is already one of the most-talked about films of the year. Here's a selection of verdicts from members of the extended TimeOut family who watched Monday's New Zealand premiere screening.
Toby Woollaston,
TimeOut film reviewer
What a luxury to have Joaquin Phoenix to hang your film on. Especially when that film is about one of the most iconic (and dare I say it, celebrated) fictional villains in history. His turn as the Clown Prince of Crime will likely draw comparisons to those who have gone before (Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson et al). But it needn't. This film is a different beast and Phoenix occupies a different period in the Joker's story.
Set within the bowels of Gotham City (stylised as an all-but-in-name early-80s New York), Joker introduces Arthur Fleck, a heavily medicated clown-for-hire with a neurological disorder that causes compulsive laughing. Living with his mother (Frances Conroy), with whom he spends evenings watching Live! with Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) on TV, Fleck cuts a desperately lonely figure. Bullied, alienated, and fast becoming bitter towards the people around him, he succumbs to his darker leanings.
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This introspective character study belies its comic book origins. Dark, gritty and full of rage, Fleck's psychological descent is undeniably eye-opening. But the misunderstood anti-hero schtick has a familiar ring, with Fleck's character clearly cribbing from roles such as Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle (played, of course, by De Niro). Even Phoenix's turn as sociopathic loner Joe in last year's You Were Never Really Here could be considered a practice run.