With the Joker 2 releasing to an overwhelmingly negative public reaction, there are likely many who are now having to rethink their week’s evening plans for the cinema.
With a 33 percent Rotten Tomatoes score at the time of writing, Joker: Folie à Deux's release has been, it’s fair to say, far away from a success so far.
Add to that an even lower audience score of 31 percent, and a CinemaScore of D - the lowest of any comic book movie ever - many will be eyeing up their ticket to see Joker 2 this week and wondering if there’s anything else available.
Advert
Some film fans have recognised this concern, and are pointing your eyes elsewhere.
Another movie that released the same day as Joker: Folie à Deux is A Different Man, a comedy-thriller starring Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson.
One tweet about Joker 2 read: “The Joker 2 review is that you should go see A Different Man instead.”
In their replies, this reviewer said: “Honestly there is a good deal of thematic overlap regarding the real self and the projected self... guess which is more interesting”.
A Different Man sees Stan plays a man called Edward who has Neurofibromatosis, a condition where he has non-cancerous tumours over his entire face.
After being offered the opportunity for them to be removed with an experimental drug, he takes it.
He later meets a man called Oswald, played by Pearson - who actually has Neurofibromatosis - and it causes him to re-examine his life.
While A Different Man may not have had the marketing campaign Joker 2 did, its reviews are a lot higher.
With 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.4 on IMDb (Joker 2 sits at 5.3), it has been received far better.
One post on Reddit about the film pointed to Stan’s ‘incredible’ performance, and recognised that more of the actor's awards buzz has been focused on his role in the upcoming Trump biopic The Apprentice.
They posted in r/Oscars saying: “Sebastian Stan deserves to be nominated for A Different Man instead.
“Since there is a lot of buzz around the Trump biopic, I can’t help it but think how incredible his performance in A Different Man was.
“Does anyone share the same opinion?”
One comment read: “I absolutely agree with you. He’s absolutely in my personal five for the year thus far.
“The scene in the bar where he has some semblance of what he was missing was what sold it for me personally.”
Another said: “100% abso-f**king-lutely!
“He doesn't need Trump. Forget The Apprentice it's A Different Man that folks need to be concentrating on.
“He is phenomenal in that film. It's the best screen role of his career to date and the BEST performance of his career.
“I'm not even exaggerating. I would love to see him nominated and win.”
Whatever your choice between the two, A Different Man is sure to steal some tickets from Joker 2 this week if you ask me.
Topics: Film, TV and Film, Joker
Michael Slavin