They Are Going to Kill Us Productions

Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, Sean P Diddy Combs, Elliot Gaynon, Antony Langdon, David Letterman, Larry McHale, Edward James Olmos, Jamison Reeves, Eddie Rouse, Ben Stiller, Cenk Uygur, Bruce Willis

In 2008 while rehearsing for a charity event, Joaquin Phoenix announced to everyone there that he was retiring from acting and switching careers to become a rapper. For a year he works on that premise while going off the deep end, growing a shaggy beard and delving into prostitutes and cocaine, cursing his two man entourage, and trying to convince Sean Combs to produce his album. Casey Affleck (Ben’s brother and Joaquin’s brother-in-law) documents it all with a camera to make a stunning documentary of the events of this year of his life. He finally makes a very disjointed and monotone appearance on the Letterman show that went very badly and proves either he’s complete nuts or completely convinced that the character he is playing is for real. This set Hollywood on fire with everyone trying to determine whether it was for real or a very convincing and involved hoax. I don’t think anyone knew for sure.

Shortly after the Letterman appearance Joaquin and Casey came out and announced that it was a complete hoax. Joaquin was playing a character in Casey’s new movie. He then returned to Letterman as himself to prove he was not like the guy who was there before. But whether it’s a hoax, or the hoax is a hoax, it’s an interesting film. The fact is that if he was pulling everyone’s leg, then the film is not worth much. If the hoax is a hoax, then he needs help. Either way, the movie is somewhat interesting, but not very amusing. It’s not like Andy Kaufman, who when you learned that the foreign man was a fake and that Andy was a very clever fellow after all, it did not destroy the enjoyment of watching a brilliant comedian at work. Just like Sasha Cohen’s second film of a gay fashion designer was not near as successful as Borat because we had been fooled before, so we were already in on the joke, this film is just not so good. The fact that they tried to convince everyone that it was for real doesn’t help much. As we look at this guy, he’s so unlikable, that we don’t really care what happens to him. The fact that we know he used his Letterman appearance to promote a film that he was about to release, a film which included the whole interview, makes us dislike him even more. I rated this in the middle, because it was a lot like watching a train wreck or an accident on the freeway, curiosity makes us want to watch, but when it’s all over, we yawn and say, so what. If it’s just an act, then it’s just an act. If it’s a cover up story to hide a real breakdown, then I hope he got some help. But as far as the movie goes, it was ok to watch once, but it’s completely forgettable.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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1 Comment so far »

  1.  

    Ed's Review Dot Com » Movie Review – The Master (2012) {R} said

    May 9 2013 @ 2:36 am

    […] loser. This also reminds me of Joaquin Phoenix’s film “I’m Still Here (2010) [Click here for Ed's review] which was also a decent portrayal of an unlikable guy. So basically the cult isn’t really […]

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