1.079 billion.
As I watched “Joker: Folie à Deux,” I couldn’t help but think, “Why was it made?” Sure, the previous “Joker” won awards and did well at the box office, but this sequel adds nothing to that 2019 film. When I looked to see how well it did, I found that it made $1.079 billion at the global box office. No corporation would dare pass up a chance to dip into that massive wellspring of money again, and certainly the director behind “The Hangover II” and “The Hangover III” wouldn’t be above returning for a shockingly bland and unnecessary follow-up. So I guess $1.079 billion is a lot of reasons to make this movie. Much like its predecessor, “Joker: Folie à Deux” is a slight film that thinks it’s deep, but really is just a sloppy shadow of better movies before it. Juxtaposing a cynical worldview against a technicolor musical has been done, many times, including in both versions of “Pennies From Heaven.” But those movies have real imagination, aesthetics, and something to say. “Joker: Folie à Deux” is a bad joke in need of a better punchline that drags on for 138 minutes. It’s technically better than the 2019 entry, at least is somewhat less of a rip-off of Scorsese and Schrader (now moving onto ripping off Coppola and Schrader and Scorsese) and also a bit less misogynistic (only a bit), but ultimately director Todd Phillips has crafted a floundering movie that leaves audiences cold, lacking anything of substance or even just entertainment.
Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is in Arkham Asylum, awaiting sentencing for the murders he committed two years ago. He deals with abusive guards (Brendan Gleeson) that treat him like a pet, a lawyer (Catherine Keener) that’s trying to mount an insanity defense to stave off the electric chair, and a media frenzy that has resulted in a book being made about him and a TV movie produced about the whole affair. Suddenly his life changes when he happens to spy Lee (Lady Gaga) singing in the minimum-security wing of the psychiatric hospital. He falls in love with her as she tells him about how they’re from the same neighborhood, she’s watched that TV movie 20 times, and yes, she committed some arson on her own parents. As the trial begins, Arthur has found a major fan in Lee…albeit of Joker, maybe not Arthur himself, as the failed comedian/successful murderer tries to navigate his emotions amidst all this chaos.
As with the previous “Joker,” there’s no real interest in adapting comic books or characters with any sort of allegiance to their actual versions. Everything is sacrificed to the monotonous cynicism that Phillips (co-writing with Scott Silver) employs, which means that Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey) is a character…but really in name only, as he has zero presence or any sort of personality in his many scenes at the trial. Even though Gotham actually exists in New Jersey, Phillips continues his plundering by setting this one in 1983 New York City…er…Gotham, because it’s too hard to actually employ imagination when designing a city or it’s better to steal from his movie gods than it is to actually take anything from the comic books. Those looking for familiar versions of Harley Quinn or Joker will remain disappointed as these are some low IQ stand-ins that, even in their musical fantasies, still seem pretty drab and dull.
Why is so much of the musicality of “Joker: Folie à Deux” so boring? On the one hand, part of it is repetition as some of the songs, including “When the Saints Come Marching In” or “That’s Entertainment!”, recur multiple times to feign some sort of theme or irony but really it just pads everything out. But the dancing and sets of these fantasy sequences are so restrained. Phillips has repeatedly said that this movie isn’t a musical (it is), and that shame seems to include how he frames these scenes. You want them to be grounded in realism? Fine, but they can still be exquisite to look at like in “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” or emotionally devastating like in “One From the Heart.” Instead, the extent of imagination is a ‘70s variety show or just the two performers singing in front of people who don’t react at all. The argument could be made that this reflects Arthur’s lack of imagination (even though some of the singing is real and not just in his mind), but then why open with a cartoon that belabors the point that this is a sad clown with a darkness inside him that he can’t contain. It’s a blatantly obvious theme that is simple and boring, but at least it looks interesting. Why couldn’t that be extended to the musical portions as well?
This isn’t the fault of Phoenix or Gaga, by the way. Both do their parts as well as possible given the tedious script. Gaga is an innately talented musician and a real screen presence, so even when her musical sequences are shot flat without any real inspiration, she still has some sort of magnetism and impressive ability that is hard to ignore. Phoenix got real skinny again for the part, and does a nice bit of tap dancing, even if his Joker/Arthur is consistently inconsistent throughout the film. In a better movie, this would feel like a powerful testament to the capricious horrors of mental illness. In “Joker: Folie à Deux,” however, it just feels like Phillips didn’t really know what to make of his own central characters (or how he wanted people to feel about them) and so it is a sloppy mess.
You want a good Joker movie that nods to the comics but doesn’t really adhere to them, mixes media and sprinkles in musicality amidst inventive psychology and actual character work? Go watch Vera Drew’s “The People’s Joker,” an amazing film that defiantly thumbs its nose at corporate structure and society with genuine heart and intelligence. If you want over two hours of a very basic approach to media egomania, or cult followings, or cultural commentary, then “Joker: Folie à Deux” is what you’ve been seeking. There are flashes of inventiveness and talent throughout its overwrought storytelling, but once again Phillips proves it’s all been done before (and better by others). Last time his dullard copycat routine gave Warner Brothers 1.079 billion reasons to make another movie. Who knows what will happen with “Joker: Folie à Deux”? I shudder to think.
2 / 5 Stars
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Steve Coogan, Harry Lawtey, Zazie Beetz, Leigh Gill
Directed by: Todd Phillips
