One film’s about a clown inciting malice and misery as he makes another power grab, and the other one’s about Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck/Joker. Hey look, I did a joke. Whoa.
Joker: Folie á Deux
This one hasn’t gone down too well with critics or audiences. Just about everyone going into it must’ve known that there was going to be a significant musical element to the film if they’d watched the trailer, yet this often seemed to be the main gripe for fans who’d appreciated the original, award-winning spin on Gotham’s clown prince of crime. As director Todd Phillips has made clear a number of times, the characters aren’t meant to exist in the more theatrical dark realities of the DC comics. The Joker in this version isn’t a criminal mastermind, and Lady Gaga’s Lee Quinzel isn’t the same maniacal Harley Quinn we’ve seen in previous comics and films.
The melding of musical and drama acts as another way to dip into the fantastical elements of the narrative, even if it doesn’t quite pay off. The film isn’t exactly a masterpiece, but it’s far from the clown car crash that a lot of critics are trying to paint it as. The sequel sees a bad romance play out between Arthur/Joker and Lee while he is put on trial for the murders from the last film, conflicted about his dual personality and suffering poor treatment in prison. It’s also pretty off-putting to see Brendan Gleeson as the leader of a group of particularly nasty prison guards, especially when we’re used to his softer role in Paddington 2. Knuckles this ain’t. There’s also a bizarre cameo from Steeve Coogan too.
Folie works best when it leans into the more serious drama at its core, but Joaquin Phoenix is a gift for any camera lens. Well-practiced in playing tortured men in angst odysseys like The Master and You Were Never Really Here, his pained facial expressions speak worlds that could never be conveyed in overdone, explanatory monologues. Phoenix managed to lose a whole 52 pounds for the role in the first film, mostly surviving off lettuce and steamed beans. Apparently the weight loss process was similarly gruelling this time round, made even more difficult with dance rehearsals. The actor has stated that he probably won’t be engaging in that method approach again, although the gaunt effect definitely makes an effective impact with his character in terms of creating vulnerability and hurt. Also, as with the first film, Hildur Guðnadóttir’s soundtrack is absolutely mesmerising. Mesmerising in a scary way as all those doom-laden strings do their intimidating work, but heck, she knows how to create an atmosphere. It’s also refreshing not to be in the usual superhero universe of heroes and dull, action-filled final acts, even though Philips went for the typical sequel option after the first film’s success. Folie isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it’s got enough going on to make for another intriguing, subversive circus.
The Apprentice
The fact that numerous studios rejected funding for Ali Abbasi‘s latest film outright doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. Nor does Trump declaring the work to be a ‘cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job’. Clint Eastwood and Paul Thomas Anderson were offered the director’s chair, with both declining due to an apparent ‘business risk’. Abbasi even offered to show the film to Trump, but apparently didn’t get a positive response.
The biopic follows Trump’s rise to fame under the mentorship of dodgy lawyer Roy Cohn, ultimately succeeding him as he climbs to the top. No, that’s not a spoiler, because that’s just what happened in real life. Fact. Sad. Coffefe. Etc. Sebastian Stan takes up the honour of portraying the orange gentleman in question, and although he doesn’t quite resemble Trump, he mirrors his mannerisms very well and provides an effective physical performance. Like Michael Sheen’s depiction of TV presenter Chris Tarrant in Quiz, the lack of visual resemblance is more than made up for by body language and verbal intonation. Stan trained his mouth movements by observing various SNL sketches, brushing his teeth and going grocery shopping. Not sure how those last two activities helped, but his performance was great, so those experiences must have had an impact. Stan’s weight gain prep for the role also included plenty of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a fair amount of cola colas. Ah, that’d be why he had to brush his teeth so much. Maybe. Succession’s Jeremy Strong plays Cohn with great subtlety as he evolves from immoral douchebag into an ailing, verbally paralysed husk of man watching his inferior take his throne. The third and final big player in the proceeding is Trump’s first wife Ivana, again played with nuance by an underused Maria Bakalova.
What could have been a fairly substandard biopic is enhanced by stellar performances and a snazzy production. Trump isn’t conveyed as an all-out villain, with Cohn taking a decent number of punches in terms of being the corrupting influence. Abbasi manages to walk the tightrope of conveying a highly controversial political figure with relative balance, and that’s pretty impressive. Huge.