DO WE NEED A CHARACTER STUDY OF THE "JOKER"?

IN MY OPINION:

WILLIAM REYNOLDS:

DO WE NEED A CHARACTER STUDY OF THE "JOKER"?

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT...OR NATURAL?

Before he can become the Clown Prince in Todd Phillips’s Joker, Arthur Fleck first has to die.

Over two grueling hours, Fleck is gradually betrayed by the bleak circumstances of gritty, ’70s-era New York (or thereabouts); what few friends and little family he has; his own neurochemistry and comedic timing; at one hilarious moment, an exit-only sliding door. Joker’s job is to coronate its namesake, but also to brutally depict the life of Arthur Fleck and his descent into madness. Oftentimes, because there’s not really a Batman to measure him against, yes, this feels a lot like sympathy.