i can’t quite fathom what to make of this doco. the first twenty minutes are hilarious, seriously some of the funniest footage mocking hollywood. ever. hats off to director/editor etc casey affleck, whose vision rings loud and clear throughout. then the tragedy hits – hoax or not – joaquin’s demise is horrible to witness. drugs, hookers, inner demons and all. essentially its a painful untangling peppered with a-grade cameo’s from mos def, p.diddy & edward james olmos. by the end of the film, after the onslaught of flash-frontal nudity and the letterman appearance, i’m pretty sure i wasn’t the only one to leave the cinema with a ‘wtf’ expression on my face. “he wants to go somewhere quiet for a few days” reveals his assistant. and off they go to visit papa phoenix in panama. in the closing scene, as the star’s solitary trek through the jungle ends with him sinking underwater (cue sad piano melody) one thing is clear: hoax or not, phoenix is a man facing his future with eyes wide open.
