Joaquin Phoenix was raised in a non-traditional performing family. Beginning in 2009, he is a big star but he's tired of the work. He decides to quit acting. He wants to rap and become a hip hop star.This is a mockumentary. The problem is that Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix had an idea while smoking something, and they actually went through with it. They want to make a shocking reality show and ends up making a pretty boring movie. The shock is for nothing more than for shock's sake. I don't care about this version of Joaquin. I don't laugh with him or at him. I laughed at the David Letterman interview but that's because of Letterman. This movie has little entertainment value. It is of some artistic value for how long he kept up the act.

As I imagine the filmmakers banging out ideas on how to make this movie about the film industry (something I'm sure they thought would be awe-inspiring), I am reminded of Pauline Kael's statement "Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash we have very little reason to be interested in them." I hold to my firm belief that films about the people actually making the film are both maddening (like performing brain surgery on one's self) and utterly, and completely uninspiring, unless (and this is a big unless) the subject is so captivating by some great deed (like curing cancer, or discovering a solution to world hunger), that you are compelled to follow them.Joaquin Phoenix, born Rafael Bottom, an American actor has little of the charisma that would engender mass attention as someone who could not pose behind scripted text. As evidenced in I'm Still Here, the actor has moments contemplating vapid life questions such as fly's batting of their wings to communicate (this is during supposed long periods of drug use), and the banality of movie-making.I'm Still Here is said to be a documentary-style film of a character Joaquin Phoenix experiencing a nervous breakdown upon deciding to retire from acting to move into music as a Hip Hop singer songwriter, and documented by actor and brother-in-law Casey Affleck. The film juggles many ideas about art and the responsibility of celebrity and how these coalesce to motivate individual personality. Why the filmmakers chose to include Hip Hop says a lot about the biased attitude of the white ruling class that governs the film industry in Hollywood.The success of I'm Still Here, and other films like it, proves that the viewing public loves controversial subjects, especially when it involves the reputations of celebrities. Americans have a deep-seated reverence of movie stars, sports stars, and others in the lime light and when they can be seen doing crazy things, it's good for TV and News ratings. I'm Still Here at some levels addresses this theme, but does so in such an oblique way, the whole point may be lost on the average viewer.The ultimate question is why the filmmakers Joaquin Phoenix, and Casey Affleck made this thing in the first place. As much of the footage shows, live performances with Phoenix singing, and appearing on talk shows have him immersed in a mood so deeply that he appears completely believable, so much so that in many cases he later made apologies for carrying the role so far. As for Affleck, if this is an example of what his filmmaking career is to give us, it's just more evidence that reaffirms the mythos of Hollywood as a place to look beneath the fake tinsel to find the real tinsel.It's too long for a movie of its type. Ostensibly a documentary, it goes on for 106 minutes, and never establishes clearly what it is a movie about, other than an opportunity for its central character to rant, and do shocking things on screen. It feels like a waste of time to me.

I went into this movie thinking it would be pretty funny since it was a mockumentary of sorts. Parts of the movie, especially scenes with Antony or the bits where you actually get to hear Joaquin's music, were hilarious. Especially the music--I had to re-watch one of his songs a few times, it was just such a great scene.But, the thing is, a lot of it is the type of humor you'd expect from a Jackass movie or something similar--very teenage-boy kind of humor, if you know what I mean. I think if you are in any way prudish, or easily disturbed, this film is definitely not for you.Overall, it was a pretty good movie and I'm glad I saw it. Some of the acting was a bit overdone in my opinion, and at some points, it was easy to see that the film was scripted, but it's a pretty funny movie that reveals a lot of (sometimes shocking) truths about being a celebrity, and it makes it more clear as to why celebrities do some of the crazy things that they sometimes do.

The fact that this is a fake documentary makes it even worse.Why do we need this waste of celluloid to prove that actors (and other celebs for that matter) can be whining, self-absorbed diva's without any grasp on reality? We already knew that, didn't we? So there you have it; Joaquin crying about fame. Joaquin crying about being misunderstood. Joacquin crying about not being taken seriously. Joacquin crying about people not appreciating his musical talent. Joacquin crying about talk show hosts making fun of his scruffy appearance. And this goes on and on and on.I could be missing the point (or the punchline?). It could be satire and Joaquin is trying to tell us that celebrities should NOT act this way. But then again, he could have just said so and point out any episode of "Keeping up with the Kardasians". So whether Joaquin is playing himself or some made up character, this flick is a tedious bit of rubbish....