I enjoy this film for what it's trying to do. On one hand, it's great for the criticism that it is trying to convey. Poking holes and making a mockery of the entertainment industry and how the obsession of artist can become fear and anxiety for the artist's themselves. All of these themes play into the story very well and in no way was the narrative boring or wrong. However, it acts itself as a documentary which is one of its biggest problems.

A mockumentary is an attempt of making fun of something, fictional or real; its purpose is to entertain the audience. While a documentary attempt to inform or educate the audience. And from these two definitions, that's one of the biggest that I have with the film. It doesn't know what it wants to be or what it could be.

If you want to make a mockumentary, then there need to be more humour and more ridiculous jokes, and the film doesn't know what or when it should be funny. Its style of 'documentary' is just so unconnected and unreal that you need to question whether or not Joaquin Phoenix was acting at all. That is one of the biggest problems with the film. What do you take seriously and what should you think is just funny? I can't tell whether or not it meant to be funny or not.

A washed-up person ruining his own life and manipulating people's emotion so that he could make a point is fine because it's a choice to make. But when the audience already that you are clearly lying about what you are doing it just felt like a big joke and nothing more. I could see the message being productive and I could see its technicality being great. But when you failed at making a convincing film that the actor's experience is their genuine experience, what is there to think that it's a real film? Or a documentary? Nothing. You simply don't know whether or not the film is worthy of being great. If I know that his emotions are illusions, then I would see no genuine emotion. It lacks meaning because of it. There is simply no meaning behind this film, it doesn't change Joaquin Phoenix's life nor does it change the audience mind towards Hollywood. It is shallow when it comes to a meaningful story.

Overall the narrative is great, its technicality is great. The fact that the other actors stay true to their roles is great and enduring as well. Its biggest and determining factor lies in its meaning, which it falls short on every level.

In 2009 actor Joaquin Phoenix appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman as a dishevelled, spaced-out madman. His bushy beard, dark sunglasses and slurred sentences suggested that the Academy Award nominee had lost touch with his career and his own sensibilities. This interview was meant to be a promotion for Phoenix's turn into rap music. This mockumentary is set before and after the infamous interview, with Phoenix's brother-in-law Casey Affleck looking to record his transition from Hollywood star to rap rookie. The film pry's open Phoenix's decent into madness as he pursues drugs, hookers and even some help from musician turned actor Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs. Gradually, Phoenix's erratic behaviour and weirdness takes a toll on his friendships and his image in the media's spotlight. The question that has surrounded the film though is "was any of it actually real?"

Prior to seeing I'm Still Here I was disappointed that director Casey Affleck announced that his film was a fake. I expected this to break the illusion of his mockumentary. The decision was presumably made by Affleck to save his reputation as much as Phoenix's from near-ruins. How could he let his brother-in-law capitulate like this and what was the point of recording it? To answer this, it's important to note that Affleck has described the project as not a hoax but a film in a number of interviews. Beneath the wreckage of I'm Still Here, specifically the crude behaviour of Phoenix, the film's over length and its moments of sheer self-indulgence, there is a message here that sustains, regardless of whether we know the film is a fake or not. It comes through most immediately when Phoenix opts to sleep through the Obama Inauguration on television. The idea of American accomplishment is a frequently unreliable one for him. His attempts to move away from the boundaries of Hollywood only lead him to another industry that is just as regulated. He quickly discovers that life is a lot harder without the red carpet. He has to wait on other people to contact him for once. His team can't even arrange a company car for him and he takes great offence to people asking if his career change is a hoax. As much fun as it is to be in on Casey Affleck's 'joke', since there are awkward moments of hilarity, I'm Still Here is acceptable as a proper satirical film because of its messages about celebrity culture, the highs and more frequent lows.

What is most surprising about I'm Still Here is how involving it becomes because of the authenticity with which it has been made. The film looks deliberately grubby. It's been shot with a shaky hand-held camera to provide the regularly muddy visuals and natural lighting. Small touches, like the way Affleck's camera peers 'secretly' on the edge of a doorway as Phoenix talks to someone, add to the film's illusion. There has been some thought placed into to film's ugliness but there's also a lack of restraint too. There are a lot of scenes that have presumably not been cut to give an authentic edge, but it wears us down with its claustrophobia. The centre of the film belongs to Phoenix and whether this is an act or not he is a truly convincing crackpot, through and through. His capitulation, through not only his disintegrating looks but his treatment of his friends seems so real it becomes almost unbearable to watch. Testament to Phoenix's 'performance' is that despite knowing the film isn't real, it still becomes involving. When the film returns to the Letterman interview and we hear the audience laughing, there is a different set of emotions for us having seen Phoenix's self-destruction to get here. Rather ironically, it makes us feel for him.

I'm Still Here has a number of interesting elements that elevate it beyond an extremely elaborate joke. The indistinguishable moments shared between what is real and fake and the ideas surrounding celebrity culture are encapsulated in Phoenix's regularly disturbing 'performance'. It is a shame that for many viewers these merits will be lost to the film's grating flaws. The roughness of the picture, specifically how long some scenes are and how juvenile the behaviour becomes, will for many make this a regularly confronting and difficult film to sit through.

'I'M STILL HERE': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

(This review may contain spoilers)

My feelings and opinions on this film have jumped around quite a bit in the week since I initially saw it, which they often do (which is why I tend to wait at least a little while before writing a review) but not quite to the extent of this film. Upon first viewing I hadn't read up on the film at all and only knew the core information I read about it when it was initially being released in theaters. So I wasn't sure how much of it was a true documentary and how much of it was in fact a staged 'mockumentary'. So my initial reaction and outlook of the film has changed quite a bit after reading up on all the info I could find about it on IMDb and other internet resources.

For those that don't know the movie is a 'documentary' on actor Joaquin Phoenix set and filmed during the time (2008, 2009) he announced to the world he was quitting acting and deciding to take up a hip hop career. It's directed by Phoenix's brother-in-law (and best friend) Casey Affleck and co-written by the two. Most of the movie is a film crew following Joaquin, Casey and Joaquin's entourage around as Joaquin appears to drift further and further into depression, self loathing and drugged out insanity. We watch as he tries to set up a rap record deal with Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs and makes several other failed and pathetic attempts at a rapping career. As the film goes on he becomes more and more a joke to the public and succumbs to apparent madness.

Upon first viewing I found the film oddly humorous and somewhat painful to watch at times. I couldn't decide whether what I was watching was real or all staged, or maybe something in between. My initial reaction was to give the movie a 3 or a 3.5 rating (still unsure of how much of it was reality and how much of it was an intentional joke). Then after doing a great deal of reading up on the film online I of course found out that the entire film was staged and this was actually announced to the press by Affleck shortly before it was released. If you read reviews on the film though, many critics were as unaware of this as I was upon first viewing and rated the movie under the same guessing game qualifications I originally did (Roger Ebert believed it all to be real in his review and said he'd be 'pissed' if it was in fact a hoax). Phoenix has been quoted as saying he came up with the idea for the film after learning many believe reality TV to be 'unscripted'. He and Casey intended to use their film as an analysis of celebrity and the relationship between the media, the public and celebrities themselves.

After learning that the film was completely an elaborate hoax I've had plenty of time to soak it all in and re-digest it and I've decided it's one of the most humorous and original films I've seen all year. I can't wait to see it again (especially with the commentary track where Phoenix and Affleck clue the viewer in on a lot of the behind the scene details, I've read). I'm glad I didn't know what I now know upon first viewing though and was able to consume it that way as well. It is one of the best movies of the year and Phoenix's performance is probably one of the best and most interestingly inspired acting jobs as well. To present himself as such an out of control ass was a pretty bold move for a celebrity. The film has been compared to other prank documentary films like the 'JACKASS' movies and 'BORAT' but this film definitely takes things a step further. For that it deserves a lot of credit and despite it's criticizers it is undeniably brilliant. This is a film that will long be remembered, looked back on and imitated. Truly great in the long run.

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