Joker (2019)

Somebody watched Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy back to back, then hired Robert De Niro so nobody would miss the homework. That’s Joker’s biggest problem: it’s a great performance inside a movie that keeps telling you how deep it is. Joaquin Phoenix is legit unsettling. His laugh sounds like it hurts, and the way he moves, like a puppet with loose strings, does more than the script ever does. The stairs dance is the famous shot and it earns it. But the story underlines every point twice, the city is garbage bags and grime with zero subtlety, and the ending reaches for a big statement it never fully sets up. Still, $1.08 billion worldwide off a reported $55 to 70 million budget is a lot of people buying in, and IMDb voters gave it an 8.3. A 6.2 because Phoenix deserves a better movie wrapped around him. $51 says you take a staircase two steps at a time this week and suddenly feel very theatrical.

What works: Joaquin Phoenix’s physical, unnerving performance, the heavy cello score, and the stairs dance.

What doesn’t: It borrows its whole shape from older Scorsese movies and spells out every idea instead of trusting the audience.

Who it’s for: Grown-ups who want a slow, heavy character study and don’t need a single Batman punch.