In 2019, Todd Phillips’ take on the legendary DC villain Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, was a surprising combination of origin story and topical social commentary that had a big cultural impact. It was nominated for eleven Oscars, including Best Picture, and Phoenix won Best Actor. It also started a dialogue about the possibility of people looking up to the character as some kind of misunderstood icon, giving an unfair society what it deserves.
That conversation began before the movie’s release and was very much on my mind when I saw it the first time. Due to this, I found it to be well-made, but disturbing. It was hard to watch; good, yet unpleasant. Watching it again last week, I simply see a captivating performance and an intriguing spin on Joker’s backstory. The commentary didn’t really connect, being mostly a blend of Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and King of Comedy. It was with that opinion in hand that I went into the sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux
If the first movie was about Arthur Fleck rebelling against all the abuse that made his life a living hell, this follow-up is about an identity crisis. While he loves the notoriety, and fan base, his murders have afforded him, is he actually that guy? Or, underneath the makeup and the violence, is he just the nice quiet boy who was put on Earth to make people smile? His supporters see a brilliant anarchist who exploded a (metaphorical) bomb in Gotham City by making a nihilistic statement on live TV. We see a badly damaged man who turned into a monster to protect himself from further pain. Folie à Deux (130 minutes, without the end credits) is only a little bit about which of these personalities is the real one. It is mostly about how other people see him.
This opens with Arthur a prisoner in Arkham Asylum following his infamous murder of talk show host Murray Franklin. With his trial looming, he forms an unexpectedly passionate bond with a patient named Lee, who looks at him in a way no one else ever has. Is she seeing Arthur or Joker? The question of who people see when they consider him may decide his fate.
A big mystery coming out of Joker was if this was meant to be the guy who becomes Bruce Wayne’s greatest enemy or if Arthur Fleck was symbolic for the type of chaos that can come from such an angry, splintered, society. Folie à Deux plays with that even more by focusing so much on identity. Arthur does not know who he is. His defense attorney encourages him to be meek, beaten-down, Arthur. Lee wants to be with Joker.
Their relationship takes place within a fantasy version of his life. In a bold choice by Phillips, this sequel is a musical. The majority of the numbers seem to exist in a space only they are in, where they serenade each other with songs about hope, love and future happiness. He sees her as salvation. She sees him as a star. These sequences are clearly the reason Lady Gaga was cast as Lee. She does fine in the non-musical scenes as well, but the character doesn’t have room to grow on her own. This isn’t her story. Her presence is to show how fractured Arthur’s/Joker’s sense of self is.
To be honest, this isn’t Arthur’s story, either. Phoenix is good, especially when he gets to play love-struck. However, this is more of a look at the kind of society that someone like Joker could be created in than the first one was. He is sensation, spectacle, either an antihero to rally around or a criminal who should be executed. Nobody bothers to see who this man truly is. Even he may not know. It is a fascinating approach for a filmmaker to use on a comic book character. If Joker was essentially a character study showing a mentally, physically and emotionally abused man reaching his breaking point, Folie à Deux is a psychological examination of how the Arthur Fleck’s of the world are treated after they snap.
This far into the review and I haven’t made my feelings clear. Is it any good? My answer is: it’s complicated. The musical sequences are effective, the performances are strong and the themes Phillips is dealing with are compelling when mixed with the subject matter. My issue with it is that it feels more like an essay on public reaction to celebrity trials and the meaning of Joker if he were to be placed into real life than it does an established narrative. Everything is there to make a point, not so much to tell a story. I admired it more than I liked it. Phillips has done something genuinely creative with the concept of this character over the course of these two movies. They aren’t incredible comic book adaptations, though they are interesting.
3½ out of 5
Cast:
Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck
Lady Gaga as Lee Quinzel
Brendan Gleeson as Jackie Sullivan
Catherine Keener as Maryanne Stewart
Directed by Todd Phillips
Written by Scott Silver and Todd Phillips
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