Joker is a far better, more thoughful, engaging, and provacative film than I'd expected

Have to admit that I seriously "misunderestimated" the Todd Phillips film Joker (2019) and was drawn to it only because of its numerous Academy Award nominations. Though we saw The Dark Knight and I read dozens of Batman comics in my youth, I have little to no interest in the Batman story line in particular or in DC comics in general (and was also put off by the Joker shootings in the Colorado theater and dismayed by what I thought would be glorification of violence) - but Joker is much more than a realization of a comic book. Sure there are aspects of the film that draw on the Batman story - this film depicts some of the back story of Batman/Wayne's early life and the rise of his nemesis, the eponymous Joker - but you don't need to know or care about that aspect of the film to be caught up in its story line and in the fantastic realization of NYC (Gotham, in the movie) at its lowest point: rampant crime, garbage workers on strike, complete breakdown of social services, simmering class antagonisms stoked by the tabloid press. The look and feel of NYC at its more dire is realized throughout the film: horrible subway system, mental institutions, state offices, marginal housing, and just the signage and the lighting of the city throughout, it's like a world re-created. But mostly, the film is a character study, of a mentally disturbed young man - played perfectly by Joaquin Phoenix, who deserves an AA in my opinion - as he struggles for social acceptance and recognition and is drawn into violence and mayhem, against his better instincts - and whose subway shooting of three young (obnoxious!) Wall Street types (a startling reversal of the Bernard Goetz case of about the same time as the movie seems to be set, the mid-80s) leads to a social revolution, with crowds in the street emulating Joker by wearing clown masks while tearing up the city, the have-nots taking out all their hatred and resentment against the haves. Despite his misdeeds, we can't help but emphasize with Joker - that's probably the most surprising, even disturbing, aspect of the movie; it provokes thought and self-examination - and it carries us easily through its 2 hours w/out seeming for a moment too long or gratuitous.