Five years ago, Todd Phillips released his much-acclaimed take on the DC Comics supervillain, Joker, with Joaquin Phoenix wearing the clown makeup as the bananas Pagliacci Arthur Fleck in an odd pastiche Scorsese thriller with Joker as both Travis Bickle and Rupert Pupkin – and granted the unearned honour of killing a character played by Robert De Niro.
I found it bizarrely overpraised and overrated by saucer-eyed pundits, but it became a prize-winning sensation – and perpetuated the awards-season tradition of rewarding the idea of comedy on the strict understanding that it’s not supposed to be funny.
