Magnolia PicturesReview in a Hurry: This alleged documentary about a year in the life of Joaquin Phoenix is either a nightmarish depiction of a mid-meltdown narcissist, or a brilliantly deadpan put-on to make the late Andy Kaufman proud and Sacha Baron Cohen jealous. It's arguably as self-indulgent as any movie can be, but frequently hilarious too.
The Bigger Picture: Not many actors could get away with what Phoenix and Casey Affleck (credited as director) have done here. Precisely because Phoenix has always seemed somewhat secretive, method, humorless and private, it's no stretch to believe he could be doing just about anything behind closed doors. I'm Still Here not only plays on this to great effect, but it works precisely because the star committed so totally to playing the faux version of himself that, over the course of production, people genuinely believed he was self-destructing, especially when he announced plans for a hip-hop career. Some disastrously bad public performances of his raps and his incoherent Letterman appearance seemed to confirm this, but it was apparently all part of an act that risked alienating friends and fans, big-time.
Some costars appear in on the joke. Edward James Olmos shows up to offer idiotic pseudo-profundity delivered with gravitas like only he can. P. Diddy, pursued by Phoenix throughout the film to produce his album, also must have been clued in. But David Letterman wasn't, and it's hard to tell whether Ben Stiller knew what was up.
There are times when the movie feels overlong...like the Letterman interview, it's full of awkward pauses and silence. And audiences may wish to be warned of some graphic nudity, mostly by Phoenix's male "assistant." There are also Jackass-style gross-outs at times.
Although the movie is most likely a huge pretense, what if it weren't? Cameras could probably follow somebody such as Axl Rose and get a real documentary much like this one. In Axl's case, it would just be sad. Whereas, though it won't be to everyone's taste (loud snoring could be heard at one point in the audience at the review screening), I'm Still Here does for the celebrity crash-and-burn story what This Is Spinal Tap did for rock docs. Except Spinal Tap only toured as a real band after the movie.
The 180—A Second Opinion: It cannot be stressed enough that Phoenix goes out of his way to make himself come off as unlikable, delusional, irresponsible and downright nasty as a human being. Not every moviegoer wants to be stuck with a total jerk for two hours, even if he is an ironic one.