Joaquin Phoenix made his return to The Late Show last night following his performance art appearance a year and a half ago which made plenty of headlines. With the reality of “I’m Still Here” out in the open, it made for a “how could you not know” session. Letterman was reportedly in on the gag but the interview played out like he didn’t know and only assumed it was all just a put-on. In any case, it’s kind of the closing chapter in a saga that has irritated and amused many. Here’s the full appearance:
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5 responses to “Phoenix “apologizes” as Letterman plays it straight”
I think letterman came out of that really badly.
Phoenix will do well especially if he is going to be in Hoover.
Now we can say there was an actual awkward interview. Or was this also a gag…….
Actually, I felt they both came off fairly well.
And, I liked I’m Still Here quite a bit. A solid ***/**** stars. There’s a pretty interesting parallel with The Assassination of Jesse James at work in it. Affleck seems to have a nose for making commentaries on celebrity.
Honestly, I hadn’t really ever thought of Letterman as the bad guy until he harped on it Wednesday night. That interview didn’t help him at all.
Of course, it didn’t do wonders for Joaquin, either. He’s had over a year to articulate why exactly he did this; but he didn’t exactly nail it.
The unfortunate reality in all of this is that Phoenix is awkward enough in “real life” to call into question how much of the last two years was “acting” and how much was the acting out real psychological strain under the cover of “acting.” It’s a Russian nesting doll of possibility and, in that way, I guess it’s brilliant. But it’s going to be slightly more difficult taking Phoenix seriously in anything — doc, mock or movie — he does next.
Why couldn’t Phoenix just spend two years in Ethiopia, maybe adopt an orphan, like most celebrities? Seems like a much better use of his time than faking a mental breakdown.