Joker: Folie a Deux (Todd Philips, 2024)

That's entertainment

Saw Joker: Folie a Deux and-- well I liked the ending. 

Todd Philips can't direct traffic to save his life and the movie still looks like a recycle bin of older better films, among others Umbrellas of Cherbourg, One From the Heart, Pennies from Heaven, and (a Scorsese, can't not have a Scorsese) New York, New York and you can feel the droplets of sweat showering down like a morning thunderstorm from Joaquin Phoenix's brow as he strains to make a profound statement out of yet another $200 million comic book villain movie-- but I did like that ending. 

Philips does best with the early passages, quoting extensively from A Man Escaped and Steve McQueen's Hunger and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to sketch Arthur Fleck's (Phoenix) living conditions in an impossibly harsh 70's style penitentiary. When Fleck stands before the TV screen and for the first time bursts into song it's treated not so much as a singing number as a glimpse into Fleck's inner life, a moment of emotion so intense the character can't put it any other way than to unheard music. Phoenix, a so-so singer, is actually perfect in this-- his insubstantial voice, cracking as it tries to say things outside of his vocal range, is actually more poignant than if a more professional singer had been swapped out. It's less a performing piece than a performative piece, the lyrics more lines in a private soliloquy than an actual song. 

I hesitate to add Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark as an influence but on second thought why not? A film doesn't have to be good to exert a pull, and Lars Von Trier's best-known work might be considered the model for this picture's downfall, using deftly chosen songs meant to highlight a dramatic moment that should work, only the necessary skill to stage and shoot said moment properly is beyond the filmmaker's capabilities. Philips needs to move beyond picking great filmmakers to emulate badly (I don't include Von Trier among the aforementioned 'great'), and try developing a style of his own-- when for example he has Phoenix perform tap ,he cuts up the choreography, shoots from the front from the back, uses the frame indifferently, often cutting off Phoenix's feet. When Fleck unleashes his inner Joker in court you should be able to feel the danger, the tension of him picking off judge and lawyers one by one, and there's nothing witty or even inventive in what follows (A gun? Really?).

And yes I've heard the excuse used on behalf of Von Trier's Dancer: "the musical numbers are clumsy because Bjork's character is clumsy!" Bjork's character (and for that matter Phoenix's) may not be able to sing or dance in real life but that doesn't dictate the choices they make in their heads; in their heads they might as well be Fred Astaire doing a number with Judy Garland on vocals (otherwise it's the filmmaker being too cute). It's a fantasy folks-- sky's the limit, and there should be no limit on quality or budget, at least on paper (in real life that's where real creativity comes in). 

Lady Gaga fares better-- she seems to belong to the tradition of singers who act as much as sing their numbers, and her instinctive approach serves her well as Lee Quinzel, Fleck's wannabe girlfriend. Unlike Phoenix she has power to spare in her throat, and when she does a sudden pirouette right in the middle of a prison break you sit up and say to yourself "Hello!" Can she dance? Apparently; trick is she makes you believe her character can't, and that this graceful turn just came out of nowhere.

As for that ending-- I can imagine Phoenix signing on mostly because he wanted to do that ending, I can believe Philips wanting said conclusion as both cautious addendum to and radical overthrow of the first movie's thesis; I can even believe Philips conceiving of the ultimate Joker-style prank, a kind of Andy Kaufman-esque 'fuck you!' to all the folks that made the first picture such a runaway success. I even love the sentiment, as I was never a fan of the first movie; again too derivative, too confused in what it was trying to say. 

But at $200 million-- what did they spend it on, singing lessons for Phoenix?-- it's never going to earn back its cost. Philips should've been smarter, should've realized the possible consequences of his prank sequel; he should've spent maybe $15 million tops on this, got rid of the courtroom and the helicopters, kept Phoenix and Gaga sans music score, singing like a pair of kids in a street corner, a hat sitting between them for donations. As it is, looks like the joke's on them and the other filmmakers when it really should be on us.