Review of I'm Still Here (2010) by Simon M — 24 Dec 2010

Pretty good film/documentary/whatever about the self destruction of Joaquin Phoenix, with lots of drugs, hookers, excessive male nudity, and awful, awful rap music to really hit the point home. If there's one thing I got out of this movie, it's that being a celebrity must be really freaking fun.

The film is also pretty well shot and edited, despite plenty of technical issues like bad lighting and uneven sound in parts. I could barely understand anything Diddy was saying whenever he wasn't close to the camera. It's also tends to wander a bit, especially at the beginning where you're not really sure if the film is going to be anything more than Phoenix sitting around acting crazy for two hours.

Luckily, it gets interesting once goals are set, and him having to do press junkets while undergoing his insane transition from actor to rapper is hilarious and disturbing and strangely hypnotic all at once. I loved the random cameos that pop up too, especially Edward James Olmos of Battlestar Galactica fame. Talk about random. He even gives Phoenix one of his patented "Adama" speeches just like his character on the show! Surreal!

Overall, I really liked it. It was entertaining and unique, and, whether real or fake or somewhere in between, it takes guts for an actor to intentionally sabotage a pretty successful acting career for the sake of one movie. I also found it really interesting how much respect people have for Phoenix wherever he goes, even when he's acting like a total nutcase.

Sure, some people may consider the film to be ultimately pointless, and it isn't quite as deep as it could have been, but, if anything, it's an interesting experiment meant to highlight the public's obsession with the "cult of celebrity," and it's all been recorded for us in a neat, easy to digest two hour package. What more could you ask for?