Joker: Folie à Deuxactually has a fan, and it’s none other thanQuentin Tarantino.Now, to be fair, director Todd Phillips’ follow-up to 2019’sJokerisn’t a complete bust. While the majority of moviegoers despised the sequel, there are still those who enjoyed the pointless drivel, which culminated in the shocking death of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix). But while appearing onThe Bret Easton Ellispodcast,Tarantino championed the “Folly”à Deux, which he described as being directed by the Joker himself.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker said (perWorld of Reel):
“I really, really liked it, really. A lot, like, tremendously, and I went to see it expecting to be impressed by the filmmaking. But I thought it was going to be an arms-length, intellectual exercise that ultimately I wouldn’t think worked like a movie, but that I would appreciate it for what it is.”
Why Joker: Folie à Deux Bombed at the Box Office
Unlike the polarizing Joker, audiences and critics are united in their hatred of Joker: Folie à Deux.
Ellis, who penned the novelsLess Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction,andAmerican Psycho,spoke with Tarantino about the recent movies that actually piqued his interest enough to blast the renowned filmmaker out of the house and into a cinema. And, for Tarantino, it wasJoker 2that “lured” him in:
“And I’m just nihilistic enough to kind of enjoy a movie that doesn’t quite work as a movie. That’s like a big, giant mess to some degree. And I didn’t find it an intellectual exercise. I really got caught up into it. I really liked the musical sequences. I got really caught up. I thought the more banal the songs were, the better they were.”
Quentin Tarantino Compares Todd Phillips to the Joker
Quentin Tarantino’s impressive filmographyisn’t in question, but his taste in movies might be. In addition to enjoyingJoker: Folie à Deux, the creative mind behind hits likePulp FictionandInglourious Basterdsis also openly praising Todd Phillips for the choices he made in his controversial comic book sequel. And he even compares the filmmaker to the movie’s titular character. Tarantino elaborated in the same interview:
“Todd Phillips is the Joker. The Joker directed the movie. The entire concept, even him spending the studio’s money — he’s spending it like the Joker would spend it, all right? And then his big surprise gift — haha! — the jack in the box, when he offers you his hand for a handshake and you get a buzzer with 10,000 volts shooting you — is the comic book geeks.
He’s saying f— you to all of them. He’s saying f— you to the movie audience. He’s saying f— you to Hollywood. He’s saying f— you to anybody who owns any stock at DC and Warner Brothers […] And Todd Phillips is the Joker. Un film de Joker, all right, is what it is. He is the Joker.”
Tarantino also points out that while the originalJokeris indebted to Martin Scorsese’s classicTaxi Driver,Folie à Deuxseems to borrow unashamedly from the Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis-ledNatural Born Killers(1994).“This seems pretty fuc*ing indebted toNatural Born Killers,which I wrote,”Tarantino explains to Bret Easton Ellis.“That’s the Natural Born Killers I would have dreamed of seeing…”
Joker: Folie à Deux is stillplaying in theaters, but Todd Phillips’ middle finger to fans, not to mention Hollywood,is also now available on digital VOD platforms,includingFandango at Home.For those who are curious about seeing the film, and discovering if Tarantino’s viewpoint is actually valid,Joker 2is available to rent for $19.99, or purchase for $24.99. Although, it would be infinitely cheaper to watch Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga’s big-screen collaboration in cinemas, particularly if one went to see it during a matinée.
Joker: Folie a Deux
Joker: Folie à Deux is the sequel to Todd Phillips' critically acclaimed comic book thriller Joker. Reprising his Academy Award-winning performance as the failed comedian Arthur Fleck, Joaquin Phoenix revisits the iconic DC character alongside Lady Gaga, who makes her debut as Joker’s lover Harley Quinn in this standalone continuity of the DC Universe.
