Review of "I'm Still Here"

It doesn't really matter whether Joaquin Phoenix is playing a role or being himself in the perhaps-faux documentary "I'm Still Here."

Either way his character is obnoxious and the film is mostly a bore.

Phoenix ("Gladiator," "Walk the Line") announced a few years back that he was quitting acting to become a hip-hop musician. Then he famously showed up on "Late Night with David Letterman" sporting a long beard and hair and acting semi-comatose.

When news leaked that Casey Affleck, Phoenix's brother-in-law, was shooting a film documenting Phoenix's transformation, rumors began swirling that the whole thing was a put-on.

That seems to be the truth, since both Affleck and Phoenix take writing credits on "I'm Still Here." Beyond that, it's hard to conceive of anyone releasing a real self-portrait this negative.

Phoenix is seen cavorting with prostitutes, viciously berating assistants, taking copious amounts of drugs and rambling incoherently. In fact, he rarely rambles coherently, and most of what he says makes him sound like a spoiled, arrogant jerk.

Of course, this is probably just the character; but who wants to watch a spoiled, arrogant jerk even if it is just a character?

If the entire enterprise is supposed to say something about the American preoccupation with celebrity or the decadence of show business brats, well, those already overdone subjects have been covered better elsewhere.

And by the way, if Phoenix is actually retiring from acting for a music career, he's bound for disaster. The guy has no discernable talent and he's terrible on stage.

But chances are the joke is on us. The problem is the joke isn't very funny. In fact, it's kind of vile.