THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010
24
MovieReviews I’M STILL HERE
Is he putting us on? Maybe.
by Michael O’Sullivan If you’re looking for an answer to the question
of whether Joaquin Phoenix’s “retirement” from acting and abortive second career as a rapper are, as some have claimed, all part of an elabo- rate hoax, you won’t find it by reading this re- view. You won’t find it by watching the movie “I’m Still Here” either. The fascinating, frustrat- ing new documentary — by actor Casey Affleck, who is married to Phoenix’s sister Summer and who seems to have been granted unfettered, round-the-clock access — purports to chart Phoenix’s bizarre career suicide since announc- ing he was quitting movies after his 2008 art- house film “Two Lovers.”
But the movie is as damnably perplexing as the subject himself. Much of it feels like watching a news cam-
eraman take pictures of someone who has just poured gasoline on himself and is about to light a match. (No, make that someone who has al- ready lit the match and has just dropped it into his lap.) You’ll find yourself wondering one thing, over and over, as Phoenix snorts coke off the breast of a naked hooker; weeps openly; dives into an audience to assault a heckler dur- ing a rap performance and then vomits; and
MAGNOLIA PICTURES
Actor-turned-rapper Joaquin Phoenix becomes increasingly disheveled and incoherent during the course of what might be either a documentary or a shrewd put-on.
consistently berates his assistants so badly that one of them defecates on his face while he’s sleeping. It’s this: Why doesn’t Affleck put the camera down and do something? Why doesn’t Phoenix’s manager — or any of his many gofers and lackeys — say anything? Yes, it’s that horrifying. Maybe the answer lies in our reluctance to protect famous people from themselves. When asked why he facilitates some embarrassing behavior, Phoenix’s assistant Lar- ry replies, “If he wants to do something, you do it.” Welcome to the parade of enablers. Then come the film’s closing credits, which in- clude a “cast” list crediting such performers as
Affleck’s father, Tim, in the role of Phoenix’s fa- ther. Which suddenly makes the whole thing seem like the worst episode of “Jackass” ever. Have we all been punked? Well, maybe. If the whole movie is an act, it’s an Oscar-
worthy one. Both Phoenix and Affleck are prom- inently credited as the film’s writers. But among the many celebrities who appear on camera — Ben Stiller, for example, pitching a role in “Greenberg”; Sean “Diddy” Combs, giving Phoe- nix a painful rap critique; and Edward James Ol-
i’m still here continued on 26 RATINGS GUIDE
BBBB Masterpiece BBB Very good BB Okay B Poor
No stars: Waste of time LEGENDARY
This inspirational sports drama doesn’t offer many surprises. 25
HIDEAWAY
This film makes a point that it has been made before, but it feels like you’re discovering it for the first time. 25
BRAN NUE DAE
So light and airy, it almost floats away. 26
PLUS Family Filmgoer 27 DVDs 30
OPENING NEXT WEEK
FLIPPED
Tale of puppy love wears its heart on its sleeve
by Michael O’Sullivan
In “Flipped,” eighth-grader Juli Baker likes eighth-grader Bryce Loski. Bryce, on the other hand, thinks Juli is annoying. Halfway through Rob Reiner’s syrupy, ham-fisted paean to puppy love, you just might start to agree with Bryce.
BEN GLASS
Callan McAuliffe exudes charm but no depth as an eighth-grader who dazzles a girl.
Come to think of it, he’s a little annoying, too. Your reaction, to some degree, depends on your tolerance for cute child actors. In the lead roles, spunky Madeline Carroll (“The Spy Next Door”) and dreamy Callan McAuliffe (an Aus- tralian making his American feature debut) have a well-scrubbed, middle-of-the-road ap- peal, but for anyone looking for depth, even their industrial-strength charm wears thin be- fore long. At times, the movie feels like a com- mercial for Wonder Bread, stretched to feature length. The film’s title is a play on words. On one lev-
el, it refers to the crush Juli has on Bryce. Since the summer before second grade, when his fam- ily moved in across the street, she has been crazy about him. On another level, it refers to the
flipped continued on 26
Two wolves are trying to get home in Alpha and Omega. ... People trapped on an elevator realize the Devil is among them. . . . A girl’s life parallels Hester Prynne’s in Easy A. . . . A family journeys with other peasant workers in Last Train Home. . . . Four thieves are hunted by a determined FBI agent in The Town. . . . Four guys make a movie of one losing his virginity in Virginity Hit. ... A man’s scheme to murder his wife goes awry in A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop. ... The Other City is about Washington’s HIV/AIDS epidemic.
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