Had it been any better, 鈥淛oker: Folie a Deux鈥 might have been in the conversation for awards attention.
The original landed Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar. The sequel promised the addition of Lady Gaga.
The second film, however, landed with a thud earlier this year. A thin plot (dressed up with dozens of showtunes) derailed it.
For the faithful, it was designed to show what life would be like for Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) after he was arrested and tossed in a mental institution awaiting trial.
There, the guards make fun of him but the public is fascinated with his story.
When the case comes to trial (he鈥檚 charged with killing five people), a cult has emerged who see him as some kind of folk hero, not a lawbreaker. Chief among those is Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga), who meets him in a music therapy class. Rather than fill us in on her life, director Todd Phillips uses this as an opportunity for Gaga to sing snippets from a host of songs 鈥 including those found in movie musicals. That delays the inevitable and makes us wonder why the Oscar- and Grammy-winner even agreed to do this. She鈥檚 the erstwhile Harley Quinn but little of that story seeps through. Instead, there鈥檚 a lot of Phoenix grinning and picking at songs. By the time they鈥檝e had their sixth or seventh go at Gotham karaoke, 鈥淔olie a Deux鈥 certainly earns its title.
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The trial could have amounted to something (particularly when Fleck dresses in Joker-esque clothes), but it seems just as dull as a regular trial. Only the appearance of Gary Puddles (Leigh Gill), a colleague from Fleck鈥檚 clown days, stacks up. He details the carnage and looks visibly scared of Fleck when he moves in for the questioning.
The assistant district attorney 鈥 Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey) 鈥 should be a source for another origins story but he, too, is left hanging until the surprise ending. Then, the movie scurries for a denouement.
Brendan Gleeson is interesting as an abusive guard, but his actions don鈥檛 negate Fleck鈥檚. Instead, they make you think everyone in the film is on the take somehow. Whether that puts you in Joker鈥檚 camp is up for debate but one man鈥檚 behavior doesn鈥檛 justify another鈥檚.
Phillips revisits a key location from the first film but doesn鈥檛 get the same buzz. It鈥檚 there as a reminder of the euphoria Fleck once felt.
To start the film, he uses an animated version of Joker and attempts to give this a bit more variety. Like all those familiar songs, it鈥檚 just extender for a film that has very little beef to extend.
Phoenix is just as quirky as he once was; Gaga could have been good with the right direction. When they make eyes at each other during the trial, there鈥檚 the hint that this could have been something. Instead, it鈥檚 just one more attempt to pick at the bones of Batman before the audience tires of seeing characters from DC Comics鈥 inventory.
Longer than it should be (it clocks in at 138 minutes), 鈥淛oker: Folie a Deux鈥 is toilet paper on the shoe of a film that had a unique rhythm and an original point of view.
Now, perhaps, it鈥檚 time to give the folks in Gotham a rest.
