if i had been asked to review “i’m still here”, the casey affleck (mock)documentary about the supposed downfall and very public melt down of academy award nominee joaquin phoenix, a few weeks ago, i would have most likely said that it is one of the most brave things a hollywood actor has ever done... taking his public profile and flushing it down the toilet... willingly putting himself out there in the firing line, for all the media and his fellow actors to take unkind potshots at him... but then, charlie sheen happened... and suddenly this film has become slightly redundant... this film about something that was made out to be real life, but in fact turned out it wasn’t, has in fact been trumped by an even greater public (and an actual real life) meltdown of even more epic proportions, just without the fictitious pursuit of a rap career... it is actually a bit of a shame that i have those genius 'winning' charlie sheen interviews ringing in my ear as i type this review out, because “i’m still here” is still a very cool and very funny film...
joaquin phoenix is a true talent, a dark star who has turned out some amazing acting performances in such films as “reservation road”, “two lovers” and “gladiator”, and he is brilliantly funny and tragic in this film... with his tangled dreadlocking hair, sellotaped sunglasses, non-a-lister pot gut and a truly fantastic beard, phoenix’s downfall is totally believable for the most part... though having watched this after watching his return interview on letterman, where he was clean shaven and wearing a nicely tailored suit, and where he appoligised for his dishevelled appearance the time before, i spent the most of this film wondering who was in on the joke amongst all the famous folks that turn up in it... ben stiller? p-diddy? edward james olmos? i get the impression that david letterman was definitely not in on the joke, because he (rightly so i reckon) hit phoenix up for a million bucks for his part in the film and all the publicity that the one and a half million plus people who have watched the interview on youtube had got the movie... that’s possibly more views than the actual movie has had... the film unfortunately died at the box office... which is a shame because affleck and phoenix are poking a stick through the golden cage that is hollywood, and in a way that is both funny and insightful about actually how empty the hollywood dream just might actually be...
of course for me too the film takes on a greater depth knowing that phoenix lost his brother, river phoenix, to a tragic drug overdose in 1993 outside johnny depp’s viper room nightclub... so you know this is not subject matter that phoenix would take lightly or want to make fun of, and in the opening scenes of the film you see the phoenix family performing as little kids, and you get the feeling that a few fans that he may lose because of this movie would not be the worst loss that he has experienced in his life... charlie sheen or no charlie sheen, this is still a brave movie for any hollywood film actor to make, and one that most actors would be way too scared to even contemplate making... and like at the end of the film, phoenix has seemingly disappeared off the scene too, so the jury is still out as to what he actually is going to do with the rest of his life... i really do hope his rap album comes out... because i for one would buy it...
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