The King of Comedy review

 Number 556 on the top 1000 films of all time is Martin Scorsesee's black-comedy film 'The King of Comedy.'

Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro) is an up-and-coming stand-up comedian. He wants nothing more than to be a world-wide comedy star. After a chance encounter with successful comedian and talk-show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis) which results in Pupkin being invited onto his show, Pupkin then develops a dangerous obsession with the comedy star.

In 2019, Todd Philipps made Joker with Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role. Upon release, it was instantly compared to the King of Comedy and with good reason. Both main characters are paranoid comedians. Both have Robert De Niro, although in Joker, he is playing the Jerry Lewis role. And both films were absolutely terrific.

Just like Arthur Fleck in Joker, Rupert Pupkin is a dangerously unreliable narrator. How much can you trust anything he says? He goes through the film in a paranoid delusion believing that he is Jerry Langford's' best friend when that is far from the case at all. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I wonder whether Rupert met Langford at all or whether it was just another paranoid delusion. Either way, it was a great comment on society's obsession with celebrity culture that has always existed.

And that leads me to Jerry Lewis' perfect casting as Jerry Langford. As one half of the iconic Martin and Lewis partnership, you can't imagine anyone else playing one of the US' greatest comedians. Or rather I should say a disaffected comedian who no longer has the patience for crazed fans.

Speaking of crazed fans, that brings us to Robert De Niro who, in some ways, played a similar role to his earlier Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Both men were dangerously unhinged, but Pupkin was all too believable. De Niro was convincing as the crazy superfan who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He was the literal embodiment of every toxic fandom ever.

I thoroughly enjoyed the King of Comedy. The lead actors were great and I loved the delicious dramatic irony. One of Scorsesee's best films for sure.

Walk the Line review

 Number 414 on the top 1000 films of all time is the biographical drama 'Walk the Line.'

Focussing on the story of the country music star Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix,) 'Walk the Line' shows his life from his humble beginnings on an Arkansas cotton farm with his abusive father Ray (Robert Patrick) to his rise to stardom to the breakdown of his first marriage with Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin) and his relationship with his contemporary June Carter (Reese Witherspoon.)

Although I do like Johnny Cash songs, I'm certainly no expert on his life. And 'Walk the Line' offered an unflinching look into the Man in Black himself. Joaquin Phoenix helped bring this character into life. He stopped him from being just another country music star and turned into a vulnerable and damaged man. I say, just another country star, as the film also adapts a lot of Johnny Cash's contemporaries from Waylon Jennings to Elvis Presley to Jerry Lee Lewis and, of course, June Carter.

Up until now, June Carter has always just been a name to me. I knew that she was married to Johnny Cash, but little more than that. Reese Witherspoon was great in the role. She was charismatic and energetic as the country singer. But she also brought a quiet ferocity. This was a woman who wasn't going to roll over and let herself be dominated in a man's world. And, on many occasions, she rightly puts all the men in their place. 

Witherspoon won the Best Actress Oscar for the role and I think she put in a formidable performance. She was great by herself, but also great acting opposite Phoenix. The two actors had a great chemistry. Reportedly, the two got off to a rocky start but they soon became so close that they made a pact that if either one of them leaves the project, both of them would leave. I would argue that Phoenix and Witherspoon had better chemistry than Phoenix had with Goodwin. Although considering the two characters don't have the best relationship, perhaps this worked out for the best.

But a musical drama about real life musical stars is nothing without good singing performances. And Phoenix and Witherspoon don't disappoint. They did all their own singing and instrumentation without any dubbing. I've never really heard June Carter sing so I can't comment on Witherspoon too closely, but Phoenix got Cash down to his classic bass-baritone voice.

I did enjoy this film. Even if you're not a country music or a Johnny Cash fan, this is still a great watch with strong performances from both its leads.