Joaquin Phoenix

An anti-Independence Day, a cousin of Close Encounters, but most of all, a well-modulated, dread-laden, faith-based mystery.

A well-meaning, half-hour Twilight Zone episode stretched to the outer limits of a two-hour feature.

Conventional, lacking in depth, and reliant on the artifical tension of action scenes to goose along an otherwise watchable but dull movie.

Functions better as an emotional drama than a history lesson...remains an important and, at times, profounding moving film.

A dash more authentic--or, at least, more subtle--than its Hollywood spawning and Taylor Hackford's come-on-strong take on [Ray] Charles would seem to predict.

Heartbreakingly explores our romantic delusions, and the tragedy of always wanting more than we can have.

The Master begs for a reorientation of the viewer, perhaps requiring more than one viewing...there's nothing easy or conventional about this account of a doomed search for external meaning, doubling as a meditative tone poem on human frailty.

Captures the zeitgeist of a tech-centric world that may be too 'smart' for its own good...It's about the life of the mind and emotional dysfunction as much as it is a quirky romance, and every scene opens up new questions.

The plot is a sideshow to Inherent Vice's luxuriant atmosphere, cracked sense of humor, and idiosyncratic characterization.

Ramsay’s limber direction and another phenomenal leading performance by Joaquin Phoenix lend the material an aching sensitivity and an arrhythmic but persistent heartbeat.

Joker isn’t the film to seriously tackle the issue[s]--it's more concerned with flair than genuine inquiry--but Phoenix’s pained, raw-nerve performance is one for the ages.