REVIEW: Joker Folie à Deux

I had the honor of attending the premiere of "Joker: Folie à Deux" at the 81st Venice Film Festival on September 4th, 2024. Despite the growing hype around the movie, I attended the premiere with no expectations. While the first trailer revealed incredible cinematography and set the stage for an intriguing story, the second one didn't add much or show enough to drastically change my expectations. So, I decided to sit through the whole screening and let the images speak for themselves.

It's important to mention that I wasn't among the detractors of the first movie; I liked it, and it's a good film. I loved how it depicted the story of someone with mental health issues from an inner perspective, allowing the audience not to justify but to understand the main character's different point of view. The fact that it coincides with the iconic name of "Joker" was a bonus for me. In my opinion, the story could stand on its own without the burden of that name. But to be completely honest, I still recall leaving the cinema thinking about a few scenes that felt more like "viral marketing material" than functional parts of the movie itself. However, I guess they worked in the end, as those scenes helped the first movie win at Venice that year and earned it 11 nominations and 2 wins at the Academy Awards. I still think it was a bit overrated.

Anyway, let's jump to the present. As I did with "A Star is Born" and "House of Gucci," I'm going to divide this review into two parts: a spoiler-free one and one where I openly discuss all the scenes. Feel free to continue reading and skip the second part if you wish. Also, I’m not going to give it a score, as I feel it's too reductive. In the meantime, thank you for reading.

Joker: Folie à Deux - Spoiler-Free Review

Let's start with the elephant in the room: "Joker: Folie à Deux" is a good movie with some problems. There is no way to sugarcoat it. The film has a very solid structure, and the original idea works, but it doesn’t commit to its own premises. The musical numbers are incredible, but alas, too short. There are no huge or epic choreographies like in "La La Land," even though the set design allows for it. The story is not as dark as the first one, but the dark vibes remain. The musical numbers were honestly my favorite part, but I genuinely wished they lasted longer. Just like I wished Lady Gaga had more screen time. Given the marketing campaign focused so heavily on both leads, I expected more scenes centered around her, but maybe that’s just my fan side talking.

Gaga's acting is incredible. She has improved a lot since "House of Gucci" even though she doesn’t really have too many parts to stand out for long. I won’t even comment her vocal skills on this movie. Each song made me laugh thinking about her claims of “unlearning” how to sing. She sings effortlessly, and it's easy to see why she was chosen for this role.

Many scenes in the movie are simply breathtaking. The setup, the set design, the lighting. Each frame of this movie feels like a painting. For example, the song that Lady Gaga wrote for the movie (the "waltz") blends seamlessly and I hope it will get so much recognition in the upcoming awards season, even thought it doesn’t last too long.

Gaga and Joaquin are so magical together that I wished they had a joint single to promote, like "Shallow," to promote their chemistry together outside the movie. Their confidence on screen is incredible, and the fact that I wanted much more from this movie still proves how good the premises are.

I absolutely agree with the reviews that call it "daring." The musical aspect was fundamental and key to the movie. I am clearly not one of those who gets the “ick” when characters start singing in musicals, but I did feel that some transitions were less smooth than others. This might indeed rub those viewers who dislike sudden musical interludes the wrong way, even though most songs blend perfectly into the story and feel totally natural. The movie is in fact NOT a proper musical, in fact all the “dancing” scenes are put in a context that it doesn’t feel out of place with the scene.
I loved how each song coincided with his internal emotional earthquakes. There's one song in particular, sung by Joaquin, that old Gaga fans will instantly recognize and give them the biggest smile. 

Joaquin is incredible. Even though the movie has all those problems, he manages to land on his feet and deliver a breathtaking performance, worthy of the first movie. His Oscar nomination is assured, and I really hope Gaga's is as well, although it’s going to be tough given the strong female contenders this year.

Maybe I overhyped myself dreaming of huge Chazelle-style numbers and another "Shallow" moment that never arrived, but nonetheless, the whole movie is good and worth watching. Joaquin is amazing, and Lady Gaga is undoubtedly on the right path to her next great role.

Joker: Folie à Deux - Spoiler Review

In this version of the review, I’m going to talk about the things I liked and didn’t like, still trying not to spoil the whole movie in the process.

The main problem with the movie is the same that "House of Gucci" had; at some point, Lady Gaga isn’t as present as before. Even though this decision makes sense for plot reasons, it was a bit disappointing to see her always (and literally) in the background. She has to be there since most of the movie revolves around the courtroom, but I still wished they interacted more in the second half. It makes sense that "The Joker" returns as the main and pivotal part of the story in the final act of the movie, but I still wish they'd emphasized the "Folie à Deux" aspect more. The character of Lee influences the whole movie and the decisions Joker makes, but still, if they had focused more on that dynamic, I’m sure the ending would feel less like a series of events and more like a genuine conclusion. I don’t know how fans of the comics will react seeing the roles of Joker and Gaga swapped, it’s a different take that I really enjoyed even though it didn’t end up with the explosive ending that it promises.

I’m not sure why they didn’t include the leaked performance of "That's Entertainment" that Gaga does on the Joker steps. Maybe they felt there were too many musical numbers? But then why not remove one or two songs and make the remaining ones last longer?

I’m not upset about how that scene turned out, anyways, I just wonder how it could have been if they had included the one we saw.

My favorite performance in the movie was undoubtedly the song Gaga performs on the piano while Joker does a tap dance. To me, that makes the whole movie worth watching. She sings so well that I wish that scene lasted two hours, just like the scene where Joaquin started singing "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," my heart stopped for a minute, and I was thrown back to the "Cheek to Cheek" era with little shivers all over my body.

I hope DC fans and Little Monsters will enjoy the movie anyways, but it’s surely gonna stir many mixed reactions. 

“That’s all folks!”

Matt

LGN 2024