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Joker Folie à Deux Review: Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, despite great performances, fail to rise above the sluggish storytelling
Joker Folie à Deux directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, plays in theatres now. Read our review to find out whether it is worth your time or not.
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Joker: Folie à Deux boasts of great performances but is bogged down by its sluggish storytelling
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Joker: Folie à Deux plays at a theatre near you now
Name: Joker: Folie à Deux
Director: Todd Phillips
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga
Writer: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
Rating: 2.5/5
Plot:
Joker: Folie à Deux is set after Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) shoots Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) dead on his live talk show. Arthur Fleck is institutionalised at Arkham Asylum as he awaits the trial for his crimes as Joker. Arthur is charged for a total of 5 murders. While Arthur's defense attorney tries to prove that it was not Arthur but his alter ego, Joker, that was responsible for the killings and that now he is completely sane, the prosecution representing The State tries to prove that Arthur was totally in control of himself when he murdered civilians and that he has been playing it all along, since. It incidentally becomes the first court case that is televised.
Arthur meets Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) at the asylum and they fall in love. Quinn matches his freak and that's what helps them get along.
Does Arthur really have a split personality or he is totally aware of all his actions? Can Arthur distinguish fiction from reality or he struggles with it? Has Harley been pretending all along or she is indeed in love with Arthur? What's the verdict of the court case?
Watch Joker: Folie à Deux to find out.
What Works for Joker: Folie à Deux
Joker: Folie à Deux is stunning visually and the performances are great. The background score is hauntingly brilliant. The musical bits of the movie are interestingly not even a problem. They are infact joyful. The film, at instances, puts you in a trance like state you'd not have a problem being in. Joker 2 is a bold film to make as a sequel to a movie as acclaimed as Joker. It sheds off a lot that the audience of the first part enjoyed and replaces it with something very different. The result is that it partly works and it partly doesn't.
What Doesn't Work for Joker: Folie à Deux
Joker: Folie à Deux, after showing initial promise, turns out to be aimless and unconvincing. Due to the lack of intent at telling something greater and deeper, the movie starts to feel sluggish and boring. The stretched courtroom procedural takes away all the excitement. Creative liberties are taken and scenes are stitched hap-hazardly. Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn doesn't get much to work with. Her relation with Arthur is not developed well and thus you fail to connect with their bond on a deeper level. Zooming the lens out, one realises that Joker isn't the Joker of the comic books anymore. It is a variant of Joker created by Todd Phillips that is nothing like its character. This makes Joker: Folie à Deux a movie that may not connect with everyone. Personally, I like this version but the slow screenplay and the aimlessness of the plot just doesn't help.
Watch the Joker: Folie à Deux Trailer:
Performances In Joker Folie à Deux:
Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga are simply outstanding as Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn respectively. The two look wonderful when together. If not for these two, the movie would have been completely irredeemable.
Final Verdict of Joker Folie à Deux:
Joker Folie à Deux has its merits and is certainly not a film that can be discarded or discounted. Yet, despite some great performances, it ends up feeling lesser and unconvincing. Unquestionably, it is weaker than its predicessor. The admirers of Joker however, have a few things there to like for sure.
You can watch Joker Folie à Deux at a theatre near you, now.
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