What a waste! The only folie (or delusion) in Joker: Folie à Deux is believing that I want to spend quality time with Arthur Fleck, the pathetic figure first played by Joaquin Phoenix in 2019. This time, he meets his match in a groupie (Lady Gaga) who joins him in performing a roster of tunes that might comprise an album called Songs for the Criminally Insane.
I don’t need to be reminded what good songs like “Get Happy” and “Bewitched” sound like. I can listen to them anytime and I don’t have to suffer through a turgid drama in the bargain. The only consolation I take is that the song catalogues of such great teams as Burt Bacharach and Hal David or Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley are getting major exposure to an audience that may not be familiar with them. For me, the price is too high: I can never recover the two-hours-plus I consumed watching this wearisome movie. It also throws good actors like Catherine Keener and Brendan Gleeson under the bus.
Even the faux Warner Bros. cartoon that opens the film (executed by Sylvain Chomet, of The Triplets of Belleville fame) isn’t adequate compensation. There was a time when comic book adaptations were fun to watch—like reading the comics themselves. Apparently that time has passed.