Review of I'm Still Here (2010) by Andrew L — 04 Jan 2011

What a strange, horrid mess this is. If any of this was real and not Joaquin playing some sick, twisted Andy Kaufman-bamboozlement on his fans; a crazed, out-of-body shell game on the public, and more of an actor going through a dramatic crisis, stuck between wanting to be taken seriously with his artistry and wanting to make a life change, this might've been a better movie, but it's strange and disgusting.

Joaquin, while married, goes and calls up escorts and does blow off their breasts and butt, pisses off a friend and the said friend decides to defecate on him while he's sleeping, and Joaquin throughout the film is a complete asshole, slurring his words, looking like a homeless man whom had a baby with Saddam Hussein, and dropping f-bombs like their normal verbiage. His rapping isn't too bad, but rapping is about stage presence and appearance, and when you look like you haven't shaved or showered in months; looking like some drifter whom stole a fancy man's clothes.

Plus, it's hard to like him when he's being a total asshole. He spends most of the time dispraising his friends and his fans and acting like a complete mess.

Trust me, you watch this and you won't like the man afterward. It's a very unforgivable performance. Yes, he's playing an imitation of himself; acting as a a man in the flesh of Joaquin Phoenix, but he's a deeply disturbed and deranged individual. Something is completely off and not right about him--- and when you know this is all staged, all scripted, it makes you even more revolted because why anyone would allow a friend to poop on their chest in the middle of the night or call up an escort service to do things with girls while still being a married man is beyond me.

Hollywood is a strange town and there's nothing stranger than Joaquin Phoenix.

But the other man I scratch my head at is Casey Affleck, Joaquin's brother-in-law, and little brother to Ben Affleck who agreed to chronicle and document this movie as the director. Why he'd agree to something as witless and absurd like this makes you question his psyche as well.

There's various cameos in the movie, and they like us, seem to be in belief that Joaquin is serious and not joking, but who's to say. Anyway you slice it, I give Joaquin credit for being very convincing, but I also feel this isn't like something he's going to walk away and recover from. In many ways, I think he's created a cinematic hell for himself.