'Joker' Review: Joaquin Phoenix Isn't Clowning Around as the Terrifying Batman Villain
But, as Phillips must know,Jokerisn’t just a discussion. It’s a deliberate provocation that borrows freely from unsettling classics likeTaxi Driver—from an entire subculture of dangerous, marginalized men that includes Charles Manson,A Clockwork Orange’sAlex and notorious Manhattan subway shooter Bernhard Goetz. Joaquin Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck, a sad-sack rent-a-clown leading a life of desperation and abuse. He lives in a Gotham that doesn’t look much different from the filthy Manhattan where Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle loses his mind inTaxi Driver....