I'm Still Here
2010
*
Director: Casey Affleck
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Sean Combs, Casey Affleck, Antony Langdon, Mos Def, Ben Stiller, Edward James Olmos
In late 2008, Joaquin Phoenix announced that he would retire from acting. During the subsequent months, his best friend Casey Affleck filmed the actor as he tried to launch a rapping career, the failure of which led to a gradual breakdown. After the premiere, the whole thing was revealed to be an elaborate hoax. As a documentary, this would have been tedious and totally pointless. As a mockumentary, it's unfunny and uninteresting. The film is about 106 minutes too long and it offers swearing, fighting, sex, drugs, vomit, bad hair, and bad rapping. I don't know whether to admire Phoenix for setting himself up for ridicule, or loathe him for exposing me to this skull-crushingly boring and over-indulgent self-promotion.
