***Before you read any further, there are a few spoilers in this review.***

The movie opens with the central character, Arthur Fleck, (Phoenix) taking a beating from a group of teens. For the next hour or so, the director continuously bludgeons the audience with one after another examples of his mental illness . The beatdown is not unlike Negan introducing Lucille to Glen. They even throw in the crazy mom just in case you awoke from a coma midway through the movie and didn't see the dozen or so clues.

It does get better. Once the "mask" is removed and Fleck sees who he really is, the movie gains a just little momentum like a fat man going uphill on a rascal. Fleck  accepts the crazy and likes it. He gets invited to be on a TV show hosted by Murray Franklin (De Niro) and puts his anti-hero plan in action.

This is where the movie goes completely off the rails with an incredibly unbelievable live interview of Arthur by Murray. So bad that it seemed like more of an excuse to give De Niro screen time than add anything plausible to the story. I wanted to throw my half full, watered down, overpriced, large coke at the screen. In the end, Arthur's plan goes as expected right down to an adoring mob shortly after he shoots Murray on live TV.

Had this movie been billed as part one of a 2 parter like IT, the insanity ground work could make sense. But this movie hops on one leg most of the time and never hits it's stride. Basically they took 'Taxi Driver', 'Beautiful Mind', 'V For Vendeta', 'King of Comedy' - threw them in a blender - poured it into a dirty 1970's tumbler and got a top grossing movie.

Adios