2 hrs 18 mins, in cinemas, and The Young Vic, til 9 November 2024

⭐⭐

Sometimes you just gotta be grateful for the peanut M&Ms.

They say good writers borrow and great writers steal. With that in mind, I’m going to blatantly steal a format from the estimable organ Private Eye, whose ‘Eye TV’ reviewer usually pairs two TV shows together in each column. Partly I’m doing this because I’m a bit bored and want to shake up my own formula, but I also think it might be worthwhile because of the similarities between the two musicals I saw this weekend, one on stage and one on screen. The most notable of which being that I felt they were both quite boring and suffered from the same defect of having unsatisfying character arcs.

In 2019, Joker captured the hearts of internet edgelords everywhere by offering insight and sympathy to Batman’s arch-nemesis, the Clown Prince of Crime. Being somewhat of an amateur edgelord myself, I was a fan of the movie. I don’t have any particular affinity for the DC universe – the extent of my knowledge comes largely from watching snippets of the Nolan trilogy that my Mum often had on because she had (has, presumably) a crush on Christian Bale. But I thought Joker worked well as a standalone movie; it was a satisfying villain origins story that showed how the lonely and unstable (and ultimately pitiable) Arthur Fleck morphed from an inconsequential nobody to a dangerous criminal with a loyal following. 

Of course the problem with telling a complete and satisfying story is that when it accidentally makes over $1 billion at the box office and everyone decides they want lightning to strike twice, there’s not really anywhere for the narrative to go in the (unplanned) sequel. Arthur Fleck already became the Joker in the first film, so what would his character arc be in Folie a Deux? Neither the director or the writers of this film (Todd Philips, Bob Kane and Scott Silver) seem to have bothered to answer this question before making this film. As a result, it has a very unsatisfying, uneventful plot and relies largely on edgy vibes at the expense of narrative structure.

There are two strands that you might say form the actual story (such as is it is). The first is a particularly boring courtroom drama that centres around Arthur’s defence team pleading insanity by claiming the Joker is a split personality, entirely separate from Fleck himself. The second is a kind of love story/mutual codependency between Arthur and the equally (or realistically, more) chaotic Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel. The problem with these two storylines is that they are essentially trying to replicate the character progression of the first film; as he feeds off the energy of the adoring crowds watching the trial and the emotional manipulation of the narcissistic Lee, Arthur more and more embodies his Joker persona. But we already saw this arc played out in the first film, so it really doesn’t make sense to see it happen again. One of the only really interesting turns from Arthur happens right at the end of the movie, and I liked where they left the character, but it really seems unearned based on the story that’s told throughout the rest of the film. 

Joker: Folie a Deux isn’t entirely without merit; there are some particularly effective scenes, such as Arthur being forced to reckon with the damage he’s done when his former friend Gary Puddles (an excellent performance from Leigh Gill) takes to the witness stand. Jaoquin Phoenix is still wonderful as Fleck and Lady Gaga is basically fine (though she relies a bit too much on the dramatic slow whisper). The film is shot nicely, thanks to cinematographer Lawrence Sher, and the combination of noir and cartoon in the film’s aesthetic really effectively creates a distinct world for the story to take place in. Stylistically though I was definitely not a fan of the choice to make this a musical. While I can understand the logic behind it (Arthur’s inner monologue taking the form of TV musical numbers highlights his narcissism and dependence on the love of the audience), functionally it just interrupts the flow of the story in a jarring way. There are too many song breaks, and too many of them say the same thing (about four or five seem to be just Lee and Arthur vibing their own company). 

A Face in the Crowd, though very different in tone, has an interesting parallel with Joker: Folie a Deux in that it follows one man’s rise from being an insignificant outsider to a person of great influence over the masses. It’s 1950s America and diligent radio journalist Marcia Jeffries finds a charismatic drifter in the local jail cell to feature on her ‘Face in the Crowd’ chat show. The handsome Larry ‘Lonesome’ Rhodes quickly becomes a crowd favourite, sparking a meteoric rise to TV stardom that sees him rubbing shoulders with generals and presidents. As he becomes drunk on his own power, we learn that Larry’s plainspoken all-American image may not be all that it seems, and his and Marcia’s professional partnership becomes complicated by personal feelings. 

A Face in the Crowd is based on a 1957 film by celebrated director Elia Kazan, and written by Budd Schulberg. I’d be fascinated to go see the original, because I think the core story here is a worthy one; it’s not just an interesting character arc (in its own way, a villain origins story) for Lonesome, but a commentary on American society and the audience’s own susceptibility to be swayed by those with charm. Of course, in the era of the celebrity politician, this message has become only more relevant than when the film debuted in the 50s. But I just don’t think it works in a musical format, or certainly not in this adaptation from director Kwame Kwei-Armah. 

Like in Joker: Folie a Deux, the fundamental flaw here is that the central character arc just isn’t very satisfying. When Lonesome first arrives on the set of his new TV show, he seems ill-at-ease, refusing to wear his costume or read from the prompter. And yet just a few minutes later he’s singing the praises of the show’s sponsors. Is he a simple country bumpkin who’s driven mad with power? Or was he a grifter all along? Maybe the show is asking this question on purpose, but I found the result was simply that his character development was fairly muddled. Similarly I felt the character of Marcia – from whose perspective we see most of the story – was criminally underserved. She is presented to us in the beginning as a diligent local journo who left the big city to tell real stories in small-town America. And yet as soon as Lonesome is offered a TV deal, she becomes a ruthless, ambitious type – with no progression, development or conflict between those two points. The will-they-won’t-they between Marcia and Lonesome I found tedious and cliched; Marcia’s temper tantrum in the second act when Lonesome marries somebody else (despite Marcia being the one who rejected Lonseome’s advances) undermines the attempt to characterise her as independent and career-focused. 

Another parallel with Joker: Folie a Deux is that although there’s an effective use of aesthetics to build a sense of place (thanks to production designer Anna Fleischle and costumes from Olivia Ward), A Face in the Crowd leaves a lot to be desired on the musical front. Only one or two of the songs are memorable, which seems remarkable considering the music was apparently written by Elvis Costello. I was also baffled by the choice to have a band come out on stage for some but not all of the numbers. If you’ve got the band, why not use them? The already forgettable numbers were rendered more sub-par by the use of pre-recorded backing tracks. 

All in all, a fairly disappointing weekend for me at the theatres! But hey, sometimes you have to look on the bright side. At A Face in the Crowd I had my ticket upgraded, and found myself sat next to a very chummy Brummy lady who I got chatting to. After bonding over our shared disgust for the price of concessions, she shared with me her contraband peanut M&Ms. So (to quote Carl Spackler) I got that goin’ for me. Which is nice.