Why did I wait so long to see Joker? | BBC Radio Solent's Lou Hannan

Those are just some of the quotes about last year’s smash hit movie Joker.

I’m not sure about you, but I’m one of those people who rebels about hype.

As soon as everyone says, ‘you must see…’, I make a decision not to.

I also have the attention span of a gnat so the prospect of watching a movie I’m not a 100 per cent sure I’m going to enjoy isn’t a pleasant one.

I was vaguely aware of the attention Joker drew last year, being the seventh highest grossing film of 2019 and breaking records for box office takings for an October-released movie.

However, with my half-hearted glance around the cinema listings, I didn’t think it would appeal to me as I assumed it was more about Batman and would end up with superhero stunts and ridiculous CGI.

I’d also never heard of Joaquin Phoenix (I know, I know…) so when I saw he won the Best Actor award at the Oscars, not to mention the Golden Globes and BAFTAs, I figured I should bow to peer group pressure and give it a go.

The fact I’m choosing to write about this will probably indicate already that I felt strongly one way or the other and I can confirm, JOKER IS STUPENDOUS!

I can’t remember the last time I was so totally gripped to a TV screen for two hours and cannot recommend it highly enough.

Joaquin Phoenix’s performance was sublime – haunting, subtle, dark and delicious. And as for that laugh! He deserves every single one of the awards he’s received.

Although it had some very clever Batman references, it stood alone as a strong story highlighting some extremely difficult issues.

Having mentioned it on the radio show, many listeners rang to say that it was the only film that had got them to the cinema in the past decade and they agreed it was spectacular.

The moral of the story for me? Maybe sometimes the critics do know that they’re talking about and instead of resisting the urge, I need to join the masses to avoid posting reviews of films that have been out for months.