Joker: Folie a Deux

Joker: Folie À Deux Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendon Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Harvey Dent

Director: Todd Phillips

What’s Good: Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga’s performance, the intensity of the courtroom scenes, the background score, the cinematography, the costume, and the makeup also continue to impress.

What’s Bad: The inculcation of the musical element in the movie ruins its essence, the placement of the song and dance number, even as a dream sequence looks like a misplacement, no nuanced character development for Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn, the soundtracks do not strike a chord.

Loo Break: Except for the courtroom scene, you can opt for a loo break, which will not cause much loss.

Watch or Not?: DC and Joker fans will definitely watch this one at least once but do not get your hopes too high.

Language: English

Available On: Theatrical release

Runtime: 138 Minutes

User Rating:

Arthur Fleck, aka the Joker (Joaquin Phoenix), is now serving prison time for murdering five people, including Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) on live television. As the days lead to his trial, everyone is divided upon his motives and psyche. While some sympathize with him as a victim of his childhood traumas, others celebrate him as a martyr and a celebrity. But for some, he is downright a cold-blooded killer who is hiding behind the garb of a split-personality disorder. He meets the deranged and eccentric Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga), a fellow inmate who has been locked up for setting fire to her parent’s apartment. However, she also has some skeletons in her closet, which draws her closer to Fleck or, rather, his alter-ego, the Joker. The duo soon start a whirlwind romance wherein they promise to build a ‘mountain’ together. As Arthur’s trial begins and the statements of the opposing witnesses are revealed, his dark side threatens to retake control.

Joker: Folie À Deux Movie Review: Script Analysis

Joker: Folie à Deux director and writer Todd Phillips along with co-writer Scott Silver, think brilliantly when they decide to start the movie with an animated sketch of Joker’s ‘shadow’ entrapping him into committing some crimes for which he is ultimately captured and sent to prison. It gives a sound insight into Arthur Fleck’s inner trauma and demons which led to him transitioning into the Joker. The writing during the courtroom scenes brings out the inner turmoil and anxieties of the protagonist as he learns about a rather treacherous revelation of his relationship with his mother. However, we wish there was better character development for Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn.

Her motives for getting overly bewitched by Arthur are not delved into deeply. There was a lot of potential to delve deep into her inner psyche and bring out the motivations surrounding her actions. Her scenes were just reduced to some misplaced musical numbers. There was also room for exploring Arthur’s love-hate relationship with the prison guards, especially Brendan Gleeson’s Jackie Sullivan. The screenplay escapes the monotone of the first half and paces up toward the end, but the ending still does not evoke the riveting emotions that the original movie does.

Joker: Folie À Deux Movie Review: Star Performance

Joaquin Phoenix once again hits the ball out of the park. The pathos, frustration, confusion, and vulnerability in his performance are intact. He especially shines in the courtroom scene, and his energy is unparalleled even in the otherwise monotonous musical sequences. We just wish the screenplay and the overall execution had done justice to Pheonix’s hard work and determination into portraying the character. Lady Gaga, as the new and anticipated addition, does justice to her character. But we don’t see us rooting for her Harley Quinn because of a lousy character development and her relevance being limited to the musical sequences. However, the actress-singer shares a magnetic chemistry with Pheonix. Brendon Gleeson and Catherine Keener shine in their respective roles. It was also a visual treat to see Leigh Gill reprise his role as Gary Puddles from the OG film.