Late last week, Lainey ran an opinion piece in which she said that she thought that Joaquin Phoenix’s big meltdown last year was some kind of Sacha Baron-Cohen type experiment. The news recently came out that Casey Affleck is shopping around a documentary of Phoenix’s brief “retirement” from film and descent into an ill-advised rap career. That doesn’t prove that it was all a scam, just that Phoenix’s behavior is suspect in light of the film. Another large blog linked to Lainey’s story with the title “Joaquin admits it was all a hoax.” The thing is, that was just Lainey’s opinion and she was clear about that, and neither Joaquin nor his brother-in-law Casey (who is married to Joaquin’s sister, Summer) have admitted to anything. I like how Lainey explained her position on the matter and she has some very good points. However I think the verdict is still out on Phoenix’s intent and it’s unknown whether he was pulling some massive stunt, whether he really had some kind of breakdown he (seemingly) recovered from, or if the truth is somewhere in between.

According to people who have watched the film, it’s hard to tell if it was all a joke. There are some shocking moments that don’t look staged, but no one seems to know. As many of you have pointed out, Joaquin is an actor and he could have easily been pulling the mangy beard over our eyes for months. Warning on this story, there are some disturbing details that I’ll let you read for yourself if you’re interested. One I don’t mind repeating is the claim that there’s “more male frontal nudity than you’d find in some gay porn films“:

It’s far from the Joaquin Phoenix you’re used to seeing onscreen: snorting cocaine, ordering call girls, having oral sex with a publicist, treating his assistants abusively and rapping badly. And not, apparently, playing a role — or was he?

Even after seeing the documentary “I’m Still Here: The Lost Year of Joaquin Phoenix” in a private screening earlier this week, film buyers still aren’t sure of its genuineness. Was the “Walk the Line” and “Gladiator” star, who said more than a year ago that he was quitting acting to become a musician, playing a sophisticated prank, or did he really ditch his Oscar-nominated career to become a disheveled rapper?

Agents at William Morris Endeavor, the sellers of the Casey Affleck-directed film, have started showing the movie to potential distributors, and while some were apparently interested in bidding for “I’m Still Here’s” distribution rights, the shoppers left the screening perhaps even more mystified by Phoenix’s behavior than when they walked in.
Several buyers said the film overflowed with Hollywood debauchery, including more male frontal nudity than you’d find in some gay porn films and a stomach-turning sequence in which someone feuding with Phoenix defecates on the actor while he’s asleep.

The documentary — or is it a mockumentary? — also includes Phoenix’s infamous appearance on “The Late Show With David Letterman,” in which the bearded and bloated actor barely spoke, leaving Letterman bewildered if not infuriated and people wondering about Phoenix’s mental health.

The buyers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Phoenix comes off unsympathetically and shows very little talent for music in the movie, directed by his brother-in-law (Affleck is married to Summer Phoenix). Sales agent WME declined to comment.

In some scenes in the film, the 35-year-old Phoenix is trying to get Sean “Diddy” Combs to produce Phoenix’s rap album, but the hip-hop impresario is not terribly interested. Another sequence shows Ben Stiller approaching Phoenix about starring in writer-director Noah Baumbach’s “Greenberg,” but Phoenix is barely interested.

Two buyers who saw the movie were unsure if Phoenix had turned out an elaborate piece of performance art, where the joke was really on the audience. While they were debating the film’s commercial prospects, the buyers did agree on one thing: They’d never seen anything like it.

[From The LA Times]

So if someone poops on Joaquin while he’s sleeping, why didn’t Casey stop them instead of filming it? It’s just all suspect, but I suppose I won’t know for sure until the film comes out – if even then. Will this be a straight-to-DVD or an NC 17 film in limited release? Are distributors going to demand major edits before it’s released? I’m curious, and I’ll definitely watch it. I may cover my eyes at parts, though.