I'M STILL HERE

In our media-mad culture, is any moment considered real when someone lets cameras follow him in his most private moments? Joaquín Phoenix has been acting since he was a kid. When is an actor not on? Is Phoenix so blotto that he’s not aware he’s being photographed? And is there even the slimmest difference between ruthless truth-telling and dumb or preening exhibitionism – ingesting snow mountains of cocaine, shouting down his underlings, having sex with a call girl, all while the camera rolls? (...) Somewhere during this long, fascinating display of artistic ego (or humorous hubris), Phoenix considers his failure in rapdom and asks himself, “Is it that the dream is unattainable or that it’s the wrong dream?” But from first to last, he appears to have an unnervingly strong sense of self. “Hate me, do whatever you like”, he says, but “don’t misunderstand me.” (Richard Corliss)