Joaquin Phoenix returns from Narnia during TIFF
Posted on 25. Aug, 2010 by Simon in Film
Phoenix's transformation for this role makes Christian Bale's in the Machinist look weaksauce
What turned acclaimed, handsome, witty and charming actor Joaquin Phoenix into an unfunny, belligerent, bizarro Zach Galifianakis?
Is Phoenix really trying to become a rapper? Is he in need of mental help?
Casey Affleck’s film chronicling the last year and change of Phoenix’s life where he: quit acting, became a hermit and attempted to launch a rap career, seems like an idea straight out of Project Greenlight.
Titled I’m Still Here, Affleck makes his directorial debut at the Toronto International Film Festival this year and I can’t imagine too many people are taking this film as anything but some sort of uber-committed act in the hopes Affleck’s film will be this generations This Is Spinal Tap.
I mean, even if you wanted to take this whole thing seriously, just look at the TIFF description for the movie:
But as Phoenix pours his soul into spitting rhymes, his world begins to spiral downwards. Affleck’s camera is there to witness all manner of celebrity debauchery: drugs, alcohol, groupie sex and the casual abuse of assistants. In one near-magical scene, the actor Edward James Olmos attempts to stage a kind of intervention.
EDWARD JAMES OLMOS ATTEMPTS TO STAGE AN INTERVENTION? I’m sorry, but nowhere in reality could Admiral Adama attempt an intervention for an A-List celebrity who has delusions of grandeur as he fails at becoming a rapper (because he is horrible at rapping). I mean, if the following conversation occured:
Phoenix: AM I NOT MERCIFUL?
Olmos: So say we all.
I’m pretty sure the universe would just implode unto itself. Immediately. So surely it must have been be staged. I mean, even the psychobabble narration in the trailer is absolutely hilarious and ridiculous. It makes zero sense. Nothing about this project makes sense. If it’s fake it probably won’t be funny and we’ll wonder why they spent so much time on it. On the god forbidden chance this is all genuine, does anybody really win? Would you want your brother in law making a documentary about your life as you spiral out of control? Talk about awkward.
So yeah, I’m not sure what to expect from I’m Still Here, but I have awfully low expectations. I mean, even if it’s staged you have to give it to Phoenix for stopping work for over a year, embarrassing himself at every opportunity, putting on like 40 pounds and growing a beard that must surely be both itchy and a pain to keep hygienic.
If Hillary Swank got an oscar for playing a tomboy, I think Phoenix would absolutely deserve a gold statue should he prove devoting your real life to a movie role might be the future of Hollywood entertainment.
