I’m Still Here works…big time.

Everyone knows now that Joaquin Phoenix was indeed faking and that he didn’t quit acting. So what was he doing that whole time when he was bearded, over-weight, and claiming he was entering a rap career?

Well, he was making a really fucking cool movie called I’m Still Here. It is one of the most audacious movies I’ve ever seen. Phoenix announces, for reasons that aren’t totally clear, that he is going to be making a documentary of his movement out of acting and into a hip-hop career.

Casey Affleck, who is married to Phoenix’s sister, is the one shooting the movie and nails the look of the film. Many people have talked shit about the quality of the movie, but I think it is perfect.

Had the crew been too big, whether it be too many lights, people, location managers, grips, it would be almost instantly obviously that they’re making a work of fiction. But the film looks like a movie shot with one camera and a few shitty microphones. Just like it should.

What is real and what is fake is fun to pick out, but what makes the movie almost a work of genius is its satire and Phoenix’s acting. First off, the movie rips down and looks at the world of a celebrity. Why the hell are people so obsessed with celebrities? And most importantly, why do people love seeing celebrities self-destruct? The movie doesn’t provide any concrete answers, but it definitely creates a circus.

The film depicts Phoenix going about his daily routine as he prepares to record an album with P-Diddy and cut his ties with his previous profession. The press goes wild. Phoenix and Affleck play them, and everyone else, really hard. People talk shit, criticize him, and rip him apart and for what? And I literally have no idea why. Why people are obsessed with the private lives of celebrities is beyond me. Him going on Letterman and acting weird was pretty funny, but still, anything farther than that is creepy.

Moreover, I don’t think Phoenix will ever get credit for how insane this performance is and the courage it took to execute. A lot is said about Sacha Baron Cohen’s performing, whose films are similar in their realism. Cohen hides behind a character, Phoenix can only hide behind himself.

He goes in public and humiliates himself at rap shows and in front of others who aren’t in on the joke. He isn’t just putting his pride on the line, but really putting his reputation and career at risk.

I’ll never call this movie a hoax because what Phoenix does is real. A hoax would have been all the public performances were staged and it was indeed all fake. Phoenix is out there for real and to what degree he took the character we’ll never know. Word is that he was only in character when the cameras were on, but I don’t know how much I believe that.

There are moments when it is hard to believe Phoenix is acting. His mannerisms, his riffing, the mumbling, the physical transformation he goes through. He should win an Oscar for this, but it is just too fucking weird for most people.

The film doesn’t answer any questions it brings up but I don’t think that is necessarily the point. People love it when celebrities crash and burn and for once someone decided to turn and call them out on their bullshit.

B+/5

-Collin