This film has THREE powerhouse performances: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Amy Adam’s who all do an amazing job. I’m surprised none of them won any awards honestly. 

Freddie wants so desperately to be seen as Dodd’s equal, but Dodd wants to just control Freddie like he does every one else (to be his ‘Master’), and as this dynamic plays out it causes Freddie to slowly lose hope of their friendship working. Even up until the final scene, Freddie…

These are two different movies in one, and I’ve seen multiple arguments on which half is better and I’d say the first half is more entertaining while the second half is overall better. 

In the second half, the character development of Joker is one of my favorite parts. Throughout the this half, he wants to believe he’s different and more moral than others in the war, rocking a peace symbol while also having “born to kill” written on his helmet…