subject: The Lowdown: I'm Still Here [print this page] In order to tell the somewhat mysterious tale of this rather bizarre look into the "life" of talented actor Joaquin Phoenix, we're going to need to jump all the way back to 2008. At the time, Phoenix was a darling of cinema, having played country music superstar Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, the evil Commodus in Gladiator, and one of my favourite films as a child, Parenthood, starring under his former name of Leaf as the troubled teen, Garry.
He could do no wrong, and audiences fell at his feet when red carpet time rolled around. He was intelligent, well-dressed, serious about his work and dedicated to his craft. But then something very odd happened, and the entertainment press had the biggest collective "WTF" moment since, well, ever. Joaquin Phoenix, it transpired, was retiring from acting at the top of his game, to pursue a different career: rap music.
This put the press in an awkward position, so we can only imagine what it must have been like for those living close to the actor. His rap career was a complete disaster, and he disappeared for some time, only to resurface bearded, scraggy, and reclusive. The world had lost another actor to the pressure of fame, it seemed. However, it was around that time that a poster appeared for I'm Still Here, appropriately titled given his current celebrity status.
It's unclear, even now, whether it's a serious documentary about a near breakdown, or whether it's a giant hoax in which director Casey Affleck and Phoenix have pulled off a seriously impressive PR stunt that took two years of Phoenix's life and almost cost him his reputation. The trailer, which shows everything from his rap concerts to what could be anything from a pillow-fight to a night-time brawl in a hotel room, is almost as nutty as his current facial hair.
The film is due to be released on September 10th in the US, and will be available as a video-on-demand after only two weeks, on September 24th. Sadly, no UK distributor has yet picked this one up, so people may need to either wait, head to the US to see the film (you'd be surprised), or wait; no film's worth breaking the law for, folks. But it begs the question; is this an incredibly sly bit of viral marketing, using the over-eager press and film fan-bases to circulate the film before release, or are we due to see the heartbreaking self-destruction of a truly talented man? Time will tell, but a supportive public will hope desperately for the former.
