In the 1970s, Monty Python wrote a sketch called Adventures of Ralph Melish. With dramatic music setting the noirish tone, Michael Palin theatrically declaims: “Ralph Melish (…) was on his way to work as usual when… (da dum!) nothing happened. (…) No dismembered trunk of a man in his late fifties. No head in a bag. Nothing. Not a sausage.”
Something about these non-adventures finds echoes in Joker: Folie à Deux, Todd Phillips’s highly anticipated sequel to Joker. There is no frisson of excitement or sense of the madness taking control. Joker picked up the Golden Lion here in Venice in 2019. This year Phillips will probably be returning home with nothing. Not a sausage.
Joker: Folie à Deux picks up not long after the original ended. Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), AKA the Joker, is incarcerated in a secure ward of Arkham Hospital. Horribly emaciated, his scapulae sticking out like broken wings from his back, Fleck shuffles from cell to recreation yard to communal room, earning cigarettes from the guards for telling jokes. He is no trouble to anyone and is thus allowed to attend group singing therapy, where he meets and falls hopelessly in love with fellow patient Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga).
From then on, the film becomes ‘Joker, the Musical!’ No emotion or thought can be expressed other than through the medium of song. I thought my dad had a tune for every occasion, but he was an amateur compared with Arthur and Harley.
Phillips has delved predominantly into songbooks of the 1950s and 1960s to dig out some classic tunes: Frank Sinatra’s That’s Life; Barbra Streisand’s Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered; and Stevie Wonder’s For Once In My Life are just a handful of great songs performed by the couple at various points throughout the film. But rather than signposting events or emotions to the audience, the conveyor belt of songs merely slows down proceedings.
Each time the film looks as if it is going to break out of the prison of its own making and unleash the Joker and Harley back onto the mean streets of Gotham City, the characters and the story return to the prison cell or the courtroom. At one point, the pair run riot through the hospital grounds but are quickly apprehended. Only 105 minutes into the film and the action, such as it is, looks like it’s about to be ramped up and that events are about to take a dark and interesting turn: Joker is kitted out in his villain’s guise, Harley applies her signature makeup, and an explosive device rips through the film. Finally, chaos and madness are about to reign. But no, we are disappointed once more.
Around this time even the Joker appears to be all sung out. When Harley breaks into That’s Entertainment for the gazillionth time, our hero says, “Please stop…Please stop singing.” If only he had asked sooner, around the hour mark, this film might have had time to do something and go somewhere. Instead, it is too busy depicting Arthur’s fantasies and nightmares, all on stage, in costume, and with a show tune; the film is too concerned with the inner machinations of its hero and far too unconcerned with offering much in the way of action for the audience.
So, what redeeming features does the film have? Well, Phillips has taken a different and unexpected path by making a musical and cannot be accused of lacking courage or imagination. There was even a hint of Federico Fellini’s Ginger and Fred in some of those dance numbers.
We all know that Lady Gaga can belt out a tune, but Phoenix — while no songster — imbues his musical turns with emotion and depth. Then there is his overall performance. He is so beautifully accomplished and magnetic that he raises the film to another level. He is unlikely to win the Best Actor award in Venice, but he would certainly be a worthy winner. Lady Gaga, Catherine Keener (as Arthur’s earnest defence lawyer) and Brian Gleeson (as Arthur’s jovial but brutal guard) provide fine support.
This could have been an outstanding film if we had had more comic book action and a little less singing. Alas, it lacks the threat and danger of its predecessor.
Despite its fascinating and complex main character, the film is ultimately dull and plodding, taking us nowhere, slowly.
