Highly intriguing documentary chronicling the great Joaquin Phoenix's alleged retirement from acting and his transition to aspiring rapper. Directed by...
Highly intriguing documentary chronicling the great Joaquin Phoenix's alleged retirement from acting and his transition to aspiring rapper. Directed by actor Casey Affleck, in his first turn behind the camera.
Like the mysterious Phoenix-saga – his apparent slide down the slopes of sanity and the debate over whether this is all fact of fiction – little is known about the documentary so far. Those of you who've kept abreast of developments will know the story so far, those who don't here's a brief catch up... In late 2008, Phoenix announced he has retired from acting to pursue a career in music. See here for Phoenix's fantastic appearance on David Letterman in early 2009. Then he went to Las Vegas, rapped a bit and fell off the stage. First word on the documentary itself came from an LA Times report in May 2010 that claims it will feature a heavy amount of full frontal male nudity and a stomach-turning sequence in which someone feuding with Phoenix takes a crap on him while he’s asleep.
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Where to watch I'm Still Here
53 %129 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® rating
38 %20,729 reviewsAudience score rating
"An utterly fascinating experiment that apparently blends real and faked material to examine notions of celebrity, mental stability and friendship."
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Variety
Variety"My guess is that after years of being the trick pony, he wanted to see what it was like to be the ringmaster."
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The New York Times
The New York Times"Who cares, finally, whether this is a documentary or not? I'm Still Here paints a convincing portrait of a miserable, frustrated actor who has lived so long in the goldfish bowl that he can no longer conceive of a life beyond acting. Not knowing what to do, he falls back on the only thing he can do. He calls in a film crew to dramatise his torment: an anguished Hollywood brat play-acting the role of an anguished Hollywood brat for the benefit of a movie camera. This, surely, is what makes Affleck's film so funny, and so tragic too. "I'm just trapped in this fucking self-imposed prison of characterisation!" wails Phoenix at one stage, reclining at home while his dogs have sex on the lawn outside."
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The Guardian
The Guardian"Affleck's provocative, postmodern take on JP as half-joke, half-victim is the damnedest plunge into the dark heart of our "reality" culture since Sacha Baron Cohen invented Borat."
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Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone"A sad and painful documentary that serves little useful purpose other than to pound another nail into the coffin. Here is a gifted actor who apparently by his own decision has brought desolation upon his head."
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Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert"Fake or not, I'm Still Here is no fun to watch, and in fact Phoenix's situation comes off as so dire that it becomes a reason to doubt the film's authenticity. Filming someone having a mental breakdown is embarrassing and exploitative at best."
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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times"This sporadically engrossing mockumentary, which gets better as it rolls along, must have been planned way back before Phoenix bombed on "Late Show With David Letterman.""
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Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood Reporter
