Joker

Actors: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Bill Camp, Shea Whigham, Marc Maron

Rating: 10 out of 10, There is something about the character of Batman’s Joker that brings out extraordinary performances but Joaquin Phoenix has outdone all predecessors. He totally inhabits the role and it was mesmerizing to behold. This is an origin story but it doesn’t involve a descent because he’s already psychotic when we first meet him. He plays an unsuccessful clown/comedian in a crumbling Gotham City. You can almost root for him as his desperately lonely life dissolves into chaos. Phoenix’s performance lends the perfect amount of unease to the audience as we watch the train wreck that his mind is unfold in slow motion. The sudden violence is unvarnished and pointed straight at those who would lionize the comic criminality the Joker is usually surrounded by. This is a very bad man; despite the challenges society and his warped life have thrown at him. I’ve always thought Joaquin Phoenix was kind of an acquired taste but you can see the pain and madness permeating his character and it’s impossible to look away. One of the best movies I’ve seen in a while but don’t go if you’re not ready to be figuratively smacked in the mouth.

MVP: Phoenix mesmerizes as the Gotham City’s preeminent bad guy