Film Is Proof Joaquin's Punking Us— or Not

The enigma that's wrapped in the riddle that is actor Joaquin Phoenix is beginning to unravel ... or maybe not. Film of his apparent months-long nervous breakdown, shot by brother-in-law Casey Affleck, is about to hit theaters, and it's proof that the mysterious personality disorder he displayed was all an enormous practical joke, crows Daily Beast writer Gina Piccalo. A preview of the film I'm Still Here: The Lost World of Joaquin circulating on the Internet is so deadpan that's it's "ridiculous" and further evidence that Joaquin "has been pulling one over on the public," she notes.

Still ... the work is "bizarre," admits Piccalo, and everyone connected to the film is still "keeping mum" (except for two female staffers who are suing Affleck for sex harassment). The Baltimore Sun calls the trailer a "whirling dervish of confusion," and the Los Angeles Times is perplexed, and "not entirely sure whether the film is a joke." Like Joaquin, the "entire thing is kind of a blur," the paper adds.
(More I'm Still Here stories.)