THERE were moments in this sequel to Todd Phillips’ 2019 brilliant Joker when I was so frustratingly bored I wanted to shout “ARE YOU JOKING?”
Mostly when Joaquin Phoenix, who is not a natural singer, broke into yet another song.
A song that was performed in full. Sung at an agonisingly slow pace. With only a close up of his face to look at.
It was not the only annoyance in this woefully dull and dreary film, directed again by Phillips.
There is a spark of promise at the opening, with an animated cartoon of the Joker — whose more human name is Arthur Fleck — reminding us all he’s a mass murderer.
From there, we’re hurtled into a bleak prison where a painfully thin Fleck (Phoenix) has clearly lost his sense of humour.
He’s ridiculed by fellow prisoners, smokes incessantly and seems on strangely good terms with the correctional officer Jackie (Brendan Gleeson).
He decides to pull a few strings to get Fleck into a music class, where hospitalised mental patients sing.
There, he meets Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga) who declares herself a huge fan.
Soon — after very little conversation — the pair have fallen crazily in love and are performing a musical number together.
Meanwhile, Fleck’s lawyer (Catherine Keener) is trying to make sure he doesn’t get the death penalty.
Her case is that he has a personality disorder, committing the crimes as The Joker and not as Fleck.
She keeps, boringly, hammering home this point and sets up a strange TV interview with Steve Coogan doing a bad American accent.
Then it’s back and forth to court where long scenes are littered with Fleck and Lee crooning away with songs including For Once In My Life and Gonna Build A Mountain.
Visually, these are often stripped back to their faces and with no elaborate dance sequences or shots in Gotham City to distract.
Gaga’s anticipated follow-up to her impressive turns in A Star Is Born and House Of Gucci is such a let-down.
But it’s no fault of her own. Her character is underwritten and has none of the gum-chewing mania of Quinn in other depictions.
Phoenix is a mighty fine actor, but this Joker feels more like an ego project for him and Phillips, rather than a film for fans.
There’s nothing funny about that.
THE JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX
(15), 139 mins
★
