Movies
You are here: Home » Movies »
I'm Still Here
I'm Still Here
Release Date
17 Sep 2010
17 Feb 2011
- User rating
-
Currently
2/5 Stars.
- Critic rating
- Currently 3/5 Stars.
69% of raters want to see this movie
Certificate:
15A
Genre:
"I'm Still Here" is a portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, the documentary follows the Oscar-nominee as he announces his retirement from a successful film career in the fall of 2008 and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip hop musician. The film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads and explores notions of courage and creative reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.
Cast:
Joaquin Phoenix
Writers:
Producers:
Amanda White
Directors:
Casey Affleck
- Critic rating
-
Currently
3/5 Stars.
Movies.ie Critic Review
Opening on some home video from February 12th, 1981, as the young Phoenix attempts a waterfall jump (and ending on a recent revisit to the same Panama spot), we're thrown into the turmoil created when the Walk The Line star casually reveals on an American entertainment TV show that he is retiring from acting. To, he later explains to an open-jawed Mos Def, “make a hip-hop Bohemian Rhapsody”. Early on, Entertainment Weekly quote a friend of the actor as stating that the whole thing is a hoax, and Phoenix finds it's an uphill battle to be taken seriously. Even by P. Diddy.
THE VERDICT: Initially touted by subject Joaquin Phoenix and his director (and brother-in-law) Casey Affleck as a year-long diary of the former's retirement from acting to become a hip-hop artist, the sting of I'm Still Here has altered somewhat now given that both have recently stated the whole thing was, as many believed, a hoax. What you're left with is an elaborate joke, as Phoenix proves far more Borat than B-Boy, more Andy Kaufman (right down to a very awkward David Letterman appearance) than Vanilla Ice, more Jackass than 8 Mile. Phoenix is happy to make a complete ass of himself (doing coke, shouting out his assistants, ordering escorts so he can “smell their buttholes”). Seemingly setting out to defecate on the cult of celebrity - and perhaps the creative process itself - as he pushes this self-mocking freak show further and further, even Phoenix seems to realise early on that the novelty gradually wears off. And all you're left with is that sinking feeling of a long and elaborate joke that proves to be not all that funny. Joaquin should have gotten Vincent Gallo to play his part.
Review by Paul Byrne
- Avg User rating
-
Currently
2/5 Stars.
User Reviews