‘Joker: Folie a Deux,’ as expressed by director and co-writer Todd Phillips, is meant to put the focus on Gotham’s fascination with what Arthur Fleck did in the first film, a means to explore the dangers of turning news into entertainment and how his mental breakdown, captured in the public sphere through a televised trial is symbolic to the world’s current deterioration of morals and values. The film, the sequel to the massively successful ‘Joker,’ which won Joaquin Phoenix an Academy Award for Best Actor, follows the events of the first film and finds Arthur Fleck in Arkham Prison and Hospital, awaiting trial for the five murders he committed. He’s become sort of a celebrity, having killed a man on live television, Phillips imagines that he has awakened something among the desperate of the population. Trouble starts when Arthur meets Lee (Lady Gaga) at a rehabilitation program that uses music as a form of therapy, and he discovers that she’s a fan.
While there a number of scenes that supports Phillips intention to showcase the public’s fascination with Fleck and how his trial is stirring up the worst in people, most of the 138-minute running-time is spent on Arthur and Lee’s dangerous bond. Lee emboldens Arthur, makes him feel seen and loved and, by doing so, pushes him to be more confident, more like the Joker. Fusing the music program into Fleck’s psychosis, it drives him to sing – the musical numbers that play out in his head – and it seems that only Lee can hear it as she also sings along. ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ is just as much a musical as it is a bleak commentary on mental health (and the lack of support for people who suffer from it), justice, and our twisted media representation that turns criminals into celebrities.
Just like the first film, ‘Joke: Folies a Deux’ is grounded by stellar performances. I may not have liked the first movie, but Phoenix had a transformative portrayal of Arthur Fleck, creating a mesmerizing study of pain and loneliness with his entire body. He does it again, and this time throws some incredible vocal performances in the songs. We know he can sing from his performance of Johnny Cash in ‘Walk the Line’, but he uses none of that bravado or vocal strength here. He sings as Arthur Fleck, not a trained singer and he can go hoarse, he can get caught up in the emotions and the effect can be chilling. Same with Lady Gaga. As Lee, she is unhinged, and she has been quoted in interviews stating that she had to unlearn how to sing because Lee was not a trained singer. But in certain songs, when Arthur was fully consumed by his fantasy, Lady Gaga could let it rip; but when she was being restrained in her vocals for the most part, she was giving it her all in every other part.
Very little is actually explored on Lee’s past or her own psychosis. She is merely a fan, unhinged, maybe even sociopathic, but all she does is really push Arthur to the point that he takes on the Joker mantle. Why? It’s never really revealed but Lady Gaga infuses her with so much bravado that it doesn’t need to be explored. It’s there in the way she looks at him, the way she sings along, and the way she shifts when the story begins to turn another way.
Also adding to the film’s world is Brendan Gleeson as a prison warden who has equal parts soft and warm and tough and brutal. He is given moments that really steal the spotlight from Phoenix (and that’s hard). Also, Catherine Keener also gives a solid performance as Arthur’s lawyer, who genuinely seems worried about him and hopes that he gets the help that he needs.
But other than Keener’s lawyer or the few moments of Gleeson’s prison warden showing his humanity, there’s very little joy here in Phillips’ ‘Joker: Folies a Deux.’ The world is grey and cold and dark. Even when they enter into their musical numbers, there is an air of dread that permeates the scene, especially when you know that it’s really all in Arthur’s head. The connection that Arthur and Lee have that is at the crux of the film is actually detrimental effect on our protagonist so it’s not even something for the audience to root for. For a large portion of the film, it feels like we are meant to feel sorry for Arthur; despite the fact that he has killed six people in the previous installment. Yes, he needs psychiatric help, but the movie also positions that there’s none that is available for him to get.
This heaviness that hangs upon the film never ever lifts, and with over a dozen musical numbers that pretty much repeats the same themes over and over, ‘Joker: Folies a Deux’ feels a little belabored and bloated. It spends a good three quarters of the film saying the same thing and by the time it shifts to try and say something new, the audience feels a bit exhausted already that the connection is lost.
The film is well-made. The cinematography and the score are incredible. The musical arrangements are just stellar with Phoenix and Lady Gaga at the mic, killing every song. But the movie is overdrawn, spending too much time talking about the same thing that all that emotions start to dwindle halfway through its extended running time. By the time it attempts to say something different – something about redemption – it’s far too late in the movie and then it undercuts it again with more of its cynical and bleak depiction of the world coming in to further push Arthur to the brink.
For all its big themes and daring to be a musical above what it has already done since ‘Joker,’ ‘Joker: Folies a Deux’ gives off the feeling that this was more a vanity project than a full-on meditation on mental health or crime.
My Rating:
Joker: Folies a Deux is now showing! Check showtimes and buy tickets here.
