Review of “Joker: Folie à Deux”: Crazy, stupid love

The idea of ​​a musical starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga playing the Joker and Harley Quinn is very promising, especially since the latter is portrayed as the ultimate unstable fangirl and gives Arthur Fleck something to hope for, when he stands trial for the murders committed in joker. Imagine what John Waters or Paul Thomas Anderson would do with that premise. Hell, we don't even have to imagine an animated shot Joker: Folie à DeuxThe only true masterpiece of dark, demented joy begins with a brief summary of Arthur Fleck's story, created by The Triplets of Belleville Director Sylvain Chomet.

When this short ends, however, we get Todd Phillips' version, largely grounded in petrified reality for over 130 agonizingly understated minutes. In dealing with the implications of his story, Slide for twoAny attempt to showcase cleverness, drive or commitment is undermined by bland direction, shoddy emotional plotting, a gleeful sense of cruelty and an earnest nihilism that makes Zack Snyder's work seem like a season of… Bluish.

Phoenix's Arthur, resigned to just floating in a daze through his dark, ugly days in Arkham Prison, is shocked back to life when he is sent to a music therapy course and meets Lee (Lady Gaga). Soon the two find themselves closing in on their parents' abuse, the terrible crimes they have committed, and a deep desire for the rest of humanity to leave them both alone. After their meeting, Arthur's everyday life is disrupted by musical performances in which he and his new crush perform a duet across the stages typical of old Hollywood.

Phoenix is ​​not a singer, but he is such a physically and emotionally intense artist that he can easily convince you otherwise. For her part, Gaga brings power and subtlety to a role that might otherwise seem superficial, and she has a ton of chemistry with Phoenix. The two find simple, dance-like ways to express emerging, unspoken emotions through touch, movement or a look. Whatever strength lies in the film comes from her full commitment.

But in the context of Slide for twoLee is an emotional support, something for Arthur to focus on while the world desperately tries to either condemn him or find excuses for his crimes. Furthermore, the musical numbers, clearly reminiscent of the Technicolor musicals of yesteryear and in which Arthur and Lee's blossoming romance takes place, are simply staged, denying the audience or Arthur any permission to feel anything too deeply.

When the film focuses on Arthur's everyday life as he goes back and forth between his prison cell and the courtroom, the unfocused cutting between scenes makes it nearly impossible to tell where Arthur's fantasy ends and reality begins, which may be the case Point, since Arthur's self-deception was a plot point in the first film. joker I handled this idea sloppily and pointlessly, and this imagination contributes next to nothing here Slide for two Except for a confusion so pervasive that it's impossible to wrap your head around it, let alone understand what Arthur or Lee are even fighting for.

The real, conscious answer might be “nothing.” In the end, Slide for two is a film caught between a rock and a hard place of its own making. On the one hand, it's obsessed with not being too controversial, that an overly sympathetic portrayal of Arthur could create a real-life incel killer. On the other hand, it feels like either Joker or Lee are too funny or their musical sequences are too elaborate, which could lead to it being too close to the comics and cartoons that Phillips has no real loyalty to.

Arthur falling back into old habits as his Joker persona should have felt extremely dangerous or dangerously powerful, as the film tries to make us believe that society as a whole is on the verge of collapse because he's just so damn popular . But this is cinematic centrism at its most cowardly and empty form. When the climax of Slide for two Although Phillips finally manages to make a single intriguing statement about the platforming of immoral men, it's far too little too late and Phillips can't even pull that off without letting the film descend into utter misery.