‘Joker’: Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘vanishing act’ the stuff that Oscar winners are made of

Joaquin Phoenix delivers a portrayal that is as transfixing as it is terrifying. —PHOTO BY WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Joaquin Phoenix could have won an Oscar for his portrayal of country music legend Johnny Cash in 2006. But his competitors for the best actor race at the time were just as exceptional. In fact, Heath Ledger should have won for “Brokeback Mountain” over eventual winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote”), David Strathairn (“Good Night, and Good Luck”), Terrence Howard (“Hustle & Flow”) and Joaquin himself (“Walk the Line”).

But in Todd Phillips’ disquieting origin story “Joker,” Joaquin’s sensitive and volatile performance of the DC Extended Universe villain is the stuff that Oscar winners are made of.

Realized with great detail and limned to sinister perfection, it’s a vanishing act that is as transfixing as it is terrifying.

Joaquin brings a visceral force to his character’s struggle between lunacy and lucidity. It’s the kind of accomplishment that should boost the actor’s quest for an Oscar—he was nominated and lost thrice.

The movie revisits the story of one of DC’s most nefarious villains, who first appeared in the debut issue of the “Batman” comic book in 1940. It merges Joker’s rise to “mirthful ignominy” with Bruce Wayne’s (Dante Pereira-Olson) fabled tragic past, realized by Phillips with flair and confidence.

But the gut-wrenching film is more than just about superheroes and villains. Its timely social commentary buzzes with menacing brio, lending added dramatic heft and depth to Joaquin’s dazzling thespic showcase.

“Joker” is a probing portrait of mentally unstable Arthur Fleck (Joaquin), a fledgling stand-up comedian whose ambition is greater than his talent.

Phoenix is Arthur Fleck aka Joker

Arthur’s cackling, heaving and tormented laughter is born out of pain and suffering—his pathological reaction to the cruel world that berates him every chance it gets.

Even Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro, also in top thespic form), the talk show host Arthur idolizes, doesn’t seem to care about the troubled man beyond the novelty of his desperate acts and odd behavior.

The side story about an influential millionaire who “could” be Arthur’s biological father lays the groundwork for a tantalizing twist that sends the distraught man reeling—and spiraling downward into madness!

Largely ignored by a society that treats him like a freak, Arthur finally finds empowerment in violence.

While it’s a familiar story that has been told many times before, the beats are nevertheless well-worn. It is as much a plea for compassion for people with mental illness as it is about the meek and the downtrodden suffering at the hands of bullies, loons and opportunists, who thrive on their weaknesses and tragic circumstances.

The R-16 movie begins its theatrical run in the Philippines today. We had high expectations for the film when we attended the press preview arranged by SM Cinemas’ movers and shakers at SM Aura last Monday and we’re only too happy to note that the production more than lives up to them.

“Joker” doesn’t just entertain. It is guaranteed to shake people out of their apathy.