JOKER: FOLIE à DEUX Review — Joke’s on the Haters – It’s Sublime!
Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Joker: Folie à Deux review says the film is not at all what fan boys expected, and is all the better for it.
Several months ago, when I saw the latest trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux, I was dazzled, and believed the film was going to be epic.
Then it premiered at the 81st International Venice Film Festival in September, and let’s just say audiences were underwhelmed, which is an understatement.
Still, as I prepared to see it, I thought, “Surely the work of Lady Gaga, Joaquin Phoenix and director Todd Phillips couldn’t be that bad.” And you know what?
I was right.
I’ll go so far as to say that the sequel to the film that was nominate for 11 Oscar and won two was riveting, astonishing and masterful.
Even the name Folie à Deux, is brilliant. Often mispronounced and mistranslated, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, it means “the presence of the same or similar delusional ideas in two persons closely associated with one another.”
The definition goes on to relate the phrase to film, quoting Gary Thompson of Philly.com, writing, “The term folie a deux refers to two individuals who plan and commit crimes that neither would concoct on their own — the basis for (fact-based) movies like Hitchcock’s Rope, or Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures.”
That, in essence, sums up Joker 2, as it’s being called.
JOKER: FOLIE à DEUX review — a different story
In Joker 2 we first see a very disturbing cartoon that summarizes the theme of the film. It’s both a warning and a tease, and it’s unforgettable.
Then we find Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) shortly after we left him in Joker — incarcerated in Arkham prison, awaiting trial for the crimes he committed two years ago. It seems the wheels of justice in Gotham turn about as fast as they do in New York City.
Arkham is not your normal prison, it’s a comic book prison, a co-ed institution where prisoners and guards bum cigarettes and lights off each other, smoke incessantly, and enjoy movie nights and choral sing-ins together. All conventional prison rules are off here, which makes it all the more intriguing.
Life is somewhat like a song in Arkham. Dark and desolate, there’s also room for hope and emotion, as we see when Arthur bumps into Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, she who will become Harley Quinn (Gaga). Their thoughts are often expressed via bouncy and romantic classics, which is a riveting conceit in my book.
Gaga and Phoenix give extraordinary, chilling performances that grab you from the very beginning and never let go, proving once again that they are masters at play. Phoenix is every bit as good here as he was in the film’s predecessor, for which you may recall he won an Academy Award.
Most of the story takes place within the prison walls, although some action does happen in the courtroom and outside. Some find this stifling and tedious, but I found it original and intriguing. It’s a super villain film like no other, without the relentless violence and battles for the safety of the world, or the universe, as we know it.
And there’s the rub to the thousands, if not millions, of angry fans. I believe Joker 2’s abysmal reception is the result of unrealized expectations. Fans wanted the film to be one thing, and Phillips gave them another. That’s his creative right. And for me, it worked beautifully.
2 Hours 18 Minutes
Rated R
If this Joker: Folie à Deux review convinces you that you should waltz on over to the cineplex to catch it, get times and tickets at Fandango.com.
Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Joker: Folie à Deux review says the film is not at all what fan boys expected, and is all the better for it.