Maybe this was the joke? Joker: Folie à Deux tacks on the 2nd part of Arthur Fleck’s tale after the wild success of 2019’s Joker. The polarizing discourse around Todd Phillips’s first Joaquin Phoenix collab bled into Folie à Deux, daring all audiences to take swings at this one. This time, with a bit of Gaga pizazz.
Since he murdered TV Host Murray Franklin and became the beacon of hope for many angry and unfamous acolytes, Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) has become a shell of that Joker persona rotting 2 years in prison. The guards (Brendan Gleeson plays one) openly mock him, and Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener) his lawyer is pushing Arthur to distance himself from his Joker persona, treating it like a different person for a lesser sentence. Until one day, when Arthur spots Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga) singing in a choir room. Lee becomes instantly smitten with Joker Arthur, helping him resurrect feelings he hadn’t had in a long time, wishing to build a mountain out of a hill with her while singing all the way up it.
Todd Phillips really made sure Folie à Deux didn’t get stuck in cash grab superhero sequel hell. This movie is like Part 2 of Into the Woods, after happily ever after. For all the fascinating riling up of angry men the first Joker did incredibly well, his sequel really wants to show what awaits people like Arthur Fleck. Despite the lucky, brief Lee Quinzel time, most of the days are spent back in that prison, rotting away in a cell with no stage or platform whatsoever. Lee helps diffuse some of that tension and take away Arthur’s anger and replace it with love, but she complicates it by wanting him to be “the Joker” of her dreams: the man who gets angry and does things. The trial puts both personas at war with one another, forcing Arthur (and by proxy, us) to make choices of which one he wants to be. Joker’s the obvious choice: the popular sociopath clown, but years of prison from the consequences and his new partner have softened a lot of those Joker feelings out of him. The trial goes on too long unfortunately, and many of the character complexities Todd Phillips tries to get into never materialize into anything profound or interesting. Folie à Deux is a big swing…and a big miss on that front.
As for the Gaga of it all. She’s…fine. The actress fully commits to her performances, and she shows a fearlessness to plunge into Joker depth’s playing our eventual Harley Quinn. Plus, when asked to carry some tunes, she’s still got the chops. Her connection with Phoenix is solid enough, the pair finding each other in mental health hell and trying to sing out of it. Joaquin does what he did in Joker again. He’s still as great as ever, taking an empty, fillery story and infusing it with his talents and dedication to the crazy character he’s inhabiting. Phillips literally and figuratively shines the light on them whenever he gets a chance, giving us all sorts of fantasy sequences and sets to try to sell Folie à Deux’s bad romance to a superhero audience. But when there are that many musical numbers bloating the movie runtime, we end up with a movie that’s way less than the sum of its parts.
At least everyone here tried something. With the 2024 presidential election coming up, angry, forgotten men have their latest Joker to attach themselves onto as a folk hero, meaning poor Arthur Fleck’s time might have passed him by a bit. Maybe one small silver lining: does that mean we’re gonna get Todd Phillips: r rated frat boy comedy genius back for one film? Come on Todd, you gotta have some coin, throw your loving Old School fans a bone before we are hungover from your Joker movies. Zing!