Lynne Ramsays harrowing new thrillerYou Were Never Really Herefeels like a violent vigilante flick projected through an arthouse prism.
Phoenix plays a man named Joe.
On the soundtrack, Jonny Greenwoods dissonant, discordant sonic cues hip you to Joes disheveled mental state.
Credit: Alison Cohen Rosa/Amazon Studios
Then again, maybe he was damaged beforehand.
Its hard to say.
A few brief flashbacks to Joes past are too impressionistic and fleeting to help fill in the gaps much.
Phoenix seems perfectly cast in Ramsays grim death-trip of a film.
The director and her star are both experimentalists.
He may be the most wildly unpredictable movie star in cinema today.
Here, the two make a perfect team simpatico in their narrative daring.
Phoenix only seems to have a few spoken lines in the film.
But he manages to express an entire inner world through his mannerisms and thousand-yard war-vets stare.
Then again, considering the state of Joes mind, maybe thats for the best.B-
