Joaquin Phoenix  gives a tour-de-force performance as one of the most interesting and tragic villians from the comparatively lackluster DC Universe.  Joaquin immerses himself so far into the role of Arthur Fleck that you completely forget you are watching an actor.  Arthur is a little weird,at first, with a plethora of strange habits and quirks that put him firmly outside the mainstream.  He means well, but due to a series of catastrophies in his life, that build on a history of poor socialization from an addict mother and mistreatment since childhood; the mild mannered, well meaning man slowly evolves into the sociopathic killer who declares himself THE Joker.  This is definitely not a happy movie.   “Joker” is unrelenting in giving us depressing  scene after depressing scene, each more heart breaking than the last.  There is never any let up and it all drives him over the edge.  There is no happy ending here, or even a shred of hope.  Even more depressing, he strikes a deep chord with a large number of the city’s other losers and failures, who are more than ready to explode into mayhem and violence.  Despite the mesmerizing performance by Joaquin Phonex, I can’t bring myself to give this movie a top rating.   I really would not care to see it again.  However, when award season gets started, I would be surprised if Joaquin did not see his share of acting nominations.  He has been nominated three previous times for an Oscar – I predict this will be his year.