Joker: The Movie Gotham Needs

Though its origins can be traced back to comic book lore, this wonderfully crafted origin story is by no means your average comic book flick! Submitted for your approval: my unabridged review of Joker.

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AND PSYCHOTIC CLOWN LAUGHTER AHEAD!

While many of us movie-goers are still reeling from one demented clown bent on destroying the world, along comes a film about another all-too-familiar cinematic and literary villain that proves once and for all who has earned the title of Clown Prince of Crime! As a colleague of mine (and fellow cinephile) so aptly put it, this film may prove to be "the Taxi Driver of our generation." It definitely has the same weight, realism, grit, raw emotion, and fractured psychosis that made that film so strikingly memorable. Much like Taxi Driver, Joker is a cautionary tale that brings us over the threshold from put-upon everyman to villain.

Joker introduces us to Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), an aspiring stand-up comic who spends his waking hours standing in the filthy Gotham streets, working as a clown-for-hire with the HA HA's Company. He starts his day with a visit to his indifferent social worker to obtain medication for a neurological disorder that causes him to laugh at inappropriate times. Arthur lives in a seedy apartment with his equally broken-down mother. He's unhappy in his surroundings, put down by his boss who thinks he's a liar, and taunted by co-workers who view him as a freak.

Arthur wants to be admired and accepted in a world that considers him a freak and wants nothing to do with him. Immersing himself in television, he imagines himself cheered on by crowds at the Murray Franklin Show. His further attempts at stand-up at a local night club are later met with jeers from the public - and the same Mr. Franklin who he so idolized. Around this point, Arthur's medication stops coming and he loses his job. Quite simply, he's a man on the verge of a crisis.

Crisis comes when a ride home on the subway turns violent and Arthur (still in his clown regalia) shoots three men dead in self defense, starting a new wave of fear in Gotham City. From there, it becomes a downward spiral into chaos as Arthur spends his days evading police detectives while searching for his true identity. During this latter task, Arthur encounters a young Bruce Wayne in a satisfying scene that playfully hints at the dynamic that will eventually evolve between the two.

When Arthur discovers what he's been searching for - namely his true identity and the lies he's been told by those he cared about - the seeds of villainy are planted in his heart. No longer the helpless sniveling victim, Arthur methodically eliminates those who have wronged him, including his mother, a double-crossing co-worker, and later the hapless Murray Franklin - live on television!

As Gotham is plunged into murderous anarchy, fueled by fear and an outraged citizenry, Arthur literally rises from the wreckage of the broken city like a psychopathic phoenix. A villain forged by chaos and rage. In the final scene, Arthur sits casually smoking in his asylum cell, laughing at the turmoil (and the eventual mask vigilante) he's created, before proving once again he won't be controlled.

After just one viewing, I can comfortably say that Joker is, quite simply, a masterpiece. It is a film that is all at once grotesque, haunting, brilliant, tragic, and poignant. A rare film that truly examines the villain's mind and delivers an emotional and visceral gut punch, just as you begin to empathize with his struggle. Layered with emotional depth, Joker is beautifully acted, heightened by an unnerving score, and given terrific direction by Todd Phillips. Viewed through the prism of reality, Joker is a both psychological study and an examination of the depravity within our own society. It's an Oscar contender that's no joke!

Cinema Score: A+