by Gordon
Directed by: Casey Affleck
Released: 2010
Rating: R [sexual material, graphic nudity, pervasive language, some drug use and crude content]
Runtime: 108 min.
Main Cast: Joaquin Phoenix
Rotten Tomatoes: 55% IMDB: 6.2/10
Back in February of 2009 actor Joaquin Phoenix appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman as someone no one could recognize: hair unkempt, mangy beard, and a suit that, though traditional, was offset by a pair of dark shades and chewing gum, for which Letterman would later comment on and Joaquin would dispose of using the host’s own desk. His physical persona was shocking enough, but even more shocking was his demeanor. His personality was void of anything remotely familiar and replaced by some kind of whacked-out version of the actor, one estranged from himself and the world. All this amplified amid what seemed to be a case of extreme shyness and timidity, Phoenix uncomfortably reacting to any and all stimuli from either the host, his band leader, or his audience. Oh, and something about him quitting acting to pursue a career in hip-hop.
I was shocked, intrigued, curious, and oddly delighted all at once, the last reaction resulting from a seed planted in my brain that hinted to me it might all be a put-on, some kind of Kaufman-esque performance to test the limits of public acceptance with celebrity persona. Instead of an audience looking on to see what the actor does next, Phoenix was turning the tables, making a bizarre move and sitting back while playing the part of observer.
And then a few YouTube videos surfaced showing the actor actually rapping in public! Was this for real after all? Then again, he was pretty awful, even clumsily falling off the stage in one clip. And then: news that his friend and brother-in-law, Casey Affleck, was filming a movie about the actor, supposedly a documentary on his transition from acting to music. Validity was taking shape, in part because Affleck had already proven himself as a solid actor and artist, because Phoenix was just the right combination of talented and mysterious to perhaps lead up to such a publicly bizarre life crisis, but in the end, because he was so good at convincing us of that scenario despite it all being a ruse.
This was all confirmed by the director before the film had even had a chance to hit the majority of its theatrical release in the U.S., a decision I later found premature and ultimately damaging to the filmmakers’ original intent. While I was eager to discover the truth behind I’m Still Here, learning it prior to viewing the end product cost my impression the profoundness of experiencing it as if it were all true.
That said, I was amazed that despite my new knowledge of the facts, I still found myself at times believing that the character Joaquin portrayed in the film was really himself, due in large to his, ironically, having not lost any of his acting chops whatsoever. It was, in fact, his convincing rendition of an actor who no longer acts that assured me he was as good an actor as ever.
It would all make for a great conclusion if it weren’t for the fact that, unfortunately, the film gets lost in such personal and specific character drama, not unlike any reality show you could probably find on TV presently, that it becomes lost on us in the process. Whereas the goal, as declared by both actor and director after the fact, was to examine the concepts of celebrity and public persona, so little attention is paid to outside reaction of this shift in the main character’s life, that the more memorable takeaways become the crude and sometimes even vile behaviors and scenes involving Joaquin and his fellow friends and costars.
I still look forward to future work from both Affleck and Phoenix, hopefully in a more mainstream way for the next few years at least. In the end, it’s not so much the film that reamins memorable, as the Late Night appearance itself and the year leading up to it. And for me, anything that pushes boundaries and the buttons of public thought is enjoyable, if for no other reason, than that one alone.
Gordon
Matt
