Lady Gaga joins Joaquin Phoenix in the DC Universe, but this sequel stumbles in its attempt to expand on Arthur Fleck’s story.
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
Awaiting trial at an Arkham Asylum eerily resembling Riker’s Island, Arthur Fleck (Academy Award-winner Joaquin Phoenix), aka Joker, belts out a series of American songbook standards with his newfound love Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga), aka Harley Quinn. They are the “folie a deux” of the title, the film’s mad love that is supposed to set our hearts aflutter and keep us riveted to this DC superhero-adjacent courtroom drama/musical about the character that co-writer and director Todd Phillips first brought to us in “Joker” (2019). That first film introduced us to Phillips’ notably Travis-Bickle-and-Rupert-Pupkin-like anti-hero Fleck, a party clown and failed stand-up comic, who embarks upon a (spoiler alert) murder spree after shooting his surrogate father and talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro).
“Folie a Deux,” which is also set in the early 1980s, tracks the abuse Arthur suffers at the hands of the vicious prison guards headed by Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson) and his preparation for his pending murder trial with his defense attorney Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener). The district attorney handling the prosecution is Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey, “The Pale Blue Eye”), aka the future Two-Face. Before the trial, Arthur and his lawyer agree to a pointless interview with Paddy Meyers (Steve Coogan), a popular TV personality. In the course of events, Arthur meets arsonist Lee, who is taking a music class at Arkham. “Folie a Deux” notably opens like a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes-style cartoon featuring Fleck and his rebellious shadow. In short order, we hear Frank Sinatra singing his classic “That’s Life” as well as Louis Armstrong’s “Oh When the Saints Go Marching In” and Judy Garland’s “Get Happy” with its reference to “Judgment Day.” Sometimes, we hear the original versions of the songs on the soundtrack. Sometimes, Arthur and Lee sing the songs in the film (Phoenix has a surprisingly good singing voice) alone and together. For example, when Arthur sings Stevie Wonder’s “For Once in My Life” with its reference to “someone who needs me,” it moves the plot along. But does the clip of Fred Astaire from Vincente Minnelli’s musical “The Band Wagon” (1953)?
This device of using existing songs to tell the DC comic book-sourced story becomes a wearisome gimmick. Yes, our favorite songs tell the stories of our lives, and the most famous songs (and books and films) of all are the story of the human race. But can you build a compelling Joker film out of it? Not if it is “Joker: Folie a Deux.” Arthur and Lee become the Astaire and Rogers of the film. Are we, as Ella Fitzgerald put it, “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” yet? Not quite, we are more like bored.
Some exteriors of Arkham Asylum were filmed at the formerly abandoned, now under restoration, Soho Hospital in Belleville, N.J., where I grew up. Ah, my youth and its madhouses. At one point, Arthur and Lee appear to host a TV variety show a la “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour” (CBS, 1971-1974).
Phoenix looks gaunt, haggard, and even frail as the alternatively-originated Arthur Fleck/Joker, although he tap dances nicely (Is it CG or just camera and sound trickery?). Gaga sings, of course, and dances. But her Lee Quinzel is a drab figure, defined for the most part by her relationship with Arthur. Unlike the Gaga and Bradley Cooper of “A Star Is Born” (2018), Gaga and Phoenix have little chemistry. They are supposed to be the Barking Mad Romeo and Juliet of Arkham Asylum. But the songs and dances are not enough to make us love them. We need drama. That’s life.
Rating: R for some strong violence, language throughout, some sexuality, and brief full nudity.
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson.
Director: Todd Phillips
Writer: Phillips, Scott Silver, Bob Kane
Running Time: 139 minutes
Where to Watch: AMC Boston Common, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, Landmark Kendall Square, and other suburban theaters
Grade: C+
Boston Movie News 