Joker: Folie à Deux

Rating 2/10

2019’s Joker was little more than a creative plot manipulation of Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. I confess I was less enthralled than its many admirers, but at least it was entertaining. Director Todd Phillips doubles down on the doom and gloom this time around. The follow-up is designed to make the audience even more miserable. Congratulations! Mission accomplished! Joker: Folie à Deux is easily the most depressing cinematic event of the year.

Forget about watching a story about the chaotic and unpredictable criminal mastermind that is Batman’s arch-nemesis. This could be any random drama about some mentally unstable guy. Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is held at Arkham State Hospital, awaiting trial for a series of murders he committed two years prior. His lawyer, Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener), plans to argue that Arthur’s “Joker” personality is responsible for the crimes, claiming he has dissociative identity disorder. During his stay, Arthur bonds with fellow patient Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a fan who admires his Joker persona. Their connection grows. As the trial progresses, Arthur continues to wrestle with the Joker identity. Meanwhile, revelations about Harleen’s past surface that further complicate Arthur’s fragile state of mind.

Let’s start with the good. The cinematography is nice. The production design is evocative of a decaying metropolis.  Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga are talented actors who inhabit their roles. But those are the kinds of things Todd Philips’s mom might offer so as not to hurt his feelings. This movie is terrible. It’s all in service of a screenplay he co-wrote with Scott Silver that fails to commit to anything. Arthur Fleck remains a perplexing and ill-defined character throughout. Scenes unfold.  Words are said, but nothing is achieved or finalized. There is no build toward a meaningful resolution or even a glimmer of substance.

Worst of all is how the production desecrates the musical. Characters occasionally break into song to underscore key emotional moments. Sadly, what makes song-and-dance productions great is missing—the lazy execution is incredibly frustrating. Singer Lady Gaga’s album Harlequin, released on September 27, features the same numbers with vibrant arrangements that elevate them into something pleasing. In this film, however, the tunes are stripped down and delivered in the spoken dialogue of a musical whisper. Classics like “Get Happy” and “Close to You” are interpreted with dreary lifelessness. Here they have the mood of a funeral dirge, not the lively melodies they once were.

The saga kicks off with a Looney Tunes-inspired animated sequence featuring the Joker, brought to life by acclaimed animator Sylvain Chomet, known for The Triplets of Belleville. That bewitching vignette sparked a flicker of hope, but my excitement steadily eroded as the minutes dragged on until nothing was left. Someone will enjoy this film, but I honestly cannot fathom who that person is. Comic book fans will feel cheated. Lovers of musical theater won’t be charmed. Even intellectuals wanting an intelligent exploration of mental illness will be put off by the movie’s utterly superficial handling of a psychological disorder. This soul-crushing 138-minute endurance test is torture to sit through and a contemptuous slap in the face of the audience. With Joker: Folie à Deux, the joke’s on us.

10-03-24