For those who think the new movie “Joker” is just another Batman or Batman villain movie, this is not the film for you. Joker is about one thing: “Cause and Effect”. Within almost all films that deal with the criminally insane or a deranged individual who has done something horrible – its all about the act of violence or the aftermath. The movie Joker is about the how and why someone like the Joker becomes criminally insane, which in my experience is something that is extremely rare in any movie. This disturbing story is about a man, Arthur Fleck whose life is a total disaster and this includes physical and emotional abuse from thugs,a horrible demeaning job as a clown, co-workers and even his mother. From the depressing and never ending abuse of a life that was never worth living, this story makes it very understandable why someone like the Joker could mutate into a psychopathic killer.  The issue that this excellent but very bleak movie points out is that, all human beings have a breaking point and once that point is reached, the downside is unlimited.

In the history of movies there has probably never been any one character that has delivered an Academy Award to two different actors; in this case the late Heath Ledger for “The Dark Knight” in 2008 and for this movie,  Joaquin Phoenix. For Joker, Joaquin has hit a high point in this career with this performance and will definitely win best actor without question.  While seeing this movie I realized that there is no other actor who could have played this part.  As for Health Ledger, the story is that he got so into the role of the Joker in the Dark Knight, that he overdosed on prescription drugs.

The Joker also has a very good performance from Robert Deniro, who plays a talk show host who Arthur Fleck is obsessed with and one of the final scenes between these two characters includes a shocking ending.

The IMDB rating for Joker is an extremely high 9.3 but the Rotten Tomatoes only has an average 70% rating – which in my opinion is wrong. I highly recommend this movie for the brilliant and subtle story telling and the fantastic acting performance of Joaquin Phoenix.