The Best and Worst of Joaquin Phoenix

“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles the career highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography of “Joker” star Joaquin Phoenix.

Films starring Joaquin Phoenix that I've seen:
Clay Pigeons
Gladiator 
Signs
The Village 
Ladder 49
Hotel Rwanda
Walk the Line
We Own the Night
Her
Irrational Man
You Were Never Really Here
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
The Sisters Brothers

Best Performance: Her (2013)
Phoenix is a fascinating actor because of his ability to alternate between subtlety and showboating with ease. Although there are many of his performances from both camps that left me speechless, his quiet yet commanding turn in Her stands above the rest. He plays a lonely recent divorcee who develops a romantic relationship with his phone's operating system (Scarlett Johannsson) with a level of raw emotional transparency that allows the character's road back from heartbreak to be incredibly authentic and moving.        

Worst Performance: Signs (2002)
The only thing notable about Phoenix's flat performance in Signs is that he was directly involved in the beautifully stupid moment where M. Night Shyamalan lost his edge as a filmmaker. I can't look at a baseball bat, hear the phrase "swing away" or even think about a minor league baseball team without visualizing Phoenix frantically knocking over glasses of water to destroy the aliens that had invaded his brother's (Mel Gibson) farmhouse. Hopefully when Phoenix dies, that will be the scene they play during his Oscars "In Memoriam" slot.

Best Film: Gladiator (2000) 
Since I'm viewing it through a purely nostalgic lens (I haven't watched it in over a decade), I'll stop short of saying Gladiator is an all time favorite of mine. However, don't mistake my refusal to make that declaration as a sign that I don't love this movie. Ridley Scott's historical revenge drama is an epic, rousing piece of blockbuster excess that features electric acting from its gifted cast (Russell Crowe, Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Djimon Honsou) and some of the best battle scenes ever put on film. 

Worst Film: The Village (2004)
Signs may have signaled the start of M. Night Shyamalan's downturn, but The Village marked the moment where he went fully off-the-rails. This period psychological thriller is so riddled with terrible acting and absurd plot twists that made it impossible for me to take whatever message about coping with trauma he was trying to convey seriously.

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Gemini Man" star Clive Owen.