Not even Lady Gaga could save ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’
Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker: Folie a Deux.” Image from Warner Bros. Pictures
For better or worse, “Joker: Folie a Deux” will crank up the online think-piece cottage industry for days. Not even the intriguing presence of Lady Gaga could salvage the plodding musical psychological thriller from director Todd Phillips. “Joker: Folie a Deux” missed the mark even if the lead stars seemed to have matched their freaks.
Looking gaunt and haunted, Joaquin Phoenix reprises his role as the titular Joker. Imprisoned in Arkham Asylum after committing a series of murders, Arthur Fleck has become a rallying figure among his ardent supporters and a stepping stone for an ambitious assistant district attorney (Harry Lawtey as Harvey Dent). Between enduring an abusive prison guard (Brendan Gleeson) and surviving a brash television interviewer (Steve Coogan), Fleck and his lawyer (Catherine Keener) prepare for what is essentially the trial of the year in Gotham.
The film opens with a retro animated short where Fleck (the aspiring stand-up comedian before he became the Joker) and his trickster shadow wrestle for the stage spotlight before the latter abandons Fleck when the police come onstage to arrest him. Essentially, it foreshadows his defense: Fleck is separate from the Joker. The former is innocent and in dire need of medical attention, while the latter is a vile murderer. But a chance encounter with the amoral fangirl from hell, Lee Quinzel (Gaga), reignited emotions that could jeopardize the case his team built.
Like Fleck and the Joker, the film seems to have split identities that never quite dovetailed into coherence: a middling, at times pointless, musical spectacle and a tedious courtroom drama. Fleck met Quinzel in a group session where the therapist explained how music heals the mental “fractures” of his patients. Thus, I assumed the musical performances will illuminate the dark, perverse mind of the Joker. I was too optimistic. Instead, we were treated to duets of hits from the Great American Songbook. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but after Gaga and Phoenix performed “Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)”, you start wondering what the point is. In an interview, the director remarked, “Most of the music in the movie is just dialogue. It’s just Arthur not having the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead.” Sure, I guess.
One song in the soundtrack that makes sense is “That’s Entertainment.” Featured in the underappreciated musical “The Band Wagon” starring Fred Astaire, the tune became an anthem of the film and theater industries. For a moment, I thought “Joker: Folie a Deux” was an editorial on the “celebrification” of high-profile criminals and reshaping criminal trials into entertainment fodders. While there was an attempt to comment on the topic, it never took off once the trial started. For the most part, the musical numbers felt like intermissions to break the monotonous and repetitive structure of the courtroom drama. I find it strange, though, that Harvey Dent never had a musical performance, considering his general countenance screams for the spotlight.
Lawrence Sher, a frequent collaborator of Todd Phillips, returns as the sequel’s cinematographer. One of the bright spots in the film is his interesting visual style. I dig the dramatic spotlights he used in some scenes with Fleck. Award-winning composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, once again worked on the music for Phillip’s Joker. Arianne Phillips served as costume designer. The film assembled a team of talented people, but its problem lies in the execution of ideas.
Despite the madness, lifelessness pervades throughout “Joker: Folie a Deux” that the elaborate musical numbers and the shocking violence cannot counter. I tried to figure out why and thought it was a film that tried to provoke but stopped short of angering the audience. I’m almost sure the ending will not please some fans—video-sharing platforms will be a reaction hellscape in the foreseeable future. Quinzel pushed Fleck to accept the Joker, and like her, I hoped the filmmakers embraced the madness of a musical thriller instead of serving us half-baked ideas and wasted potential.
