Screens/Movies

Joker: Folie á Deux
Where: In theatres
What: Movie, 138 mins.
When: Fri., Oct. 4
Genre: Drama
Rating: NNN (out of 5)
Why you should watch: Joaquin Phoenix is mesmerizing in his return as the twisted title character and Lada Gaga impresses as his devoted sycophant/lover.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX IS mesmerizing in his return to his Oscar-winning, very twisted lead role as Joker/Arthur Fleck and is certain to again be in consideration for the Academy’s Best Actor award.

Todd Phillips returns to direct and co-write the sequel to his unlikely, creepy $1-billion dollar 2019 hit Joker, and the results are not quite as good. The latest instalment is long on brooding and setup, in part because the film is largely limited to only two locations: the prison where Joker is being held to await trial for five murders committed in the last film and the courtroom where he eventually goes on trial.

Lady Gaga impressively makes her debut as Lee Quinzel, a Joker superfan who gets herself committed to the same institution Joker is being held in. She has hopes of connecting with the man who has become a celebrity, spawning fanatical devotees in part because of a TV movie made about him and his crimes. The lionizing of the psychotic killer and the media and public’s embrace of him prove a ripe subplot, adding weight to a film that seeks gravitas with lots of grey tones and lingering closeups, the scenes almost silent except for Hildur Guðnadóttir’s relentlessly ominous score.

Joker: Folie á Deux escapes its limited confines in fantasy scenes where the wannabe lovers imagine song-and-dance scenarios filled with varying degrees of violence and unease. The scenes are twisted fun. The somewhat endless musical interludes might drive some watchers as mad as the Joker, depending on one’s patience for hearing under-sung lines from Phoenix while Gaga mostly dials down her vocal skills to stay in character. Phoenix does prove rather nimble with his dance moves.

The power of Phoenix’s performance propels a film that otherwise could easily drag — not a lot happens — and most of the singing and dancing breaks could have been shortened with the result leaving viewers starting to crave their own jailbreak by the end.