'Joker' is self-serious without much to say

It takes only a few minutes for Joker to spell out the closest thing this movie has to a point.

"Is it just me," Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix) asks, "or are things getting really crazy out there?"

Even this early in the film, we already know it's not just Arthur. The Gotham City he inhabits is literally lined with trash, thanks to a garbage strike, which in turn has brought out the "super rats." Among the city's human citizens, wanton violence is the order of the day; the very first scene shows Arthur getting jumped by a group of teenagers for shits and giggles.

Arthur's personal life is no less hectic. He's struggling with an undefined mental illness and a condition that causes him to break out in uncontrollable laughter. (Yes, this is one of those stories that paints people with mental health issues as violent, despite the fact that they're more likely to be the victims of violence.) He's barely scraping by at his clown-for-hire job, while trying to break into the merciless world of standup comedy. And when he's not dealing with all of that, he's taking care of his frail and lonely mother. Read more...

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