Someone I know said he liked the movie somewhat, but in particular he thought JP's laughter sounded forced, not natural. I did comment that perhaps there is a reason for this (laughing through the pain?), but does anyone have any thoughts on this? I guess he found it distracting.
sharePBA is a real condition. The laughter is not real.
shareThere were 3 types of laughs, his condition one (the pseudobulbar affect one), the trying to fit in one where for instance at the comedy show and with Randall's short joke at work he forced a laugh because others were laughing and his real one at the end with the shrink/social worker when he was fully Joker about the joke she wouldn't understand.
shareHe had that un-helpable laughter....
You could see he wanted to cry sometimes as it happened.
It was horrible to watch sometimes...
After his meds were gone... he was free.
He was himself.... celebrating mothers murder, celebrating everything....
He was Joker then. He was happy.
That's clearly shown / told in the movie. So whether your friend was not paying attention or he had only watched the trailers.
shareNotice he hardly laughed at all (uncontrollably = condition) once he went full Joker.
He still laughed, but it was real.
I won't say my "friend" is a reliable source. He has a legitimate disability but is also high functioning, and he is a big movie fan but I can't say he's insightful. That he chose this as a critique made me curious what others might say about it.
I told him Cesar Romero had played the Joker in the campy old Batman series, and really threw himself into the role and very much against his type as an actor. And I remember him cackling and hamming up the screen to wonderful effect.
No problems with his laugh or his acting. Same with Frank Gorshin. I guess with this low budget stuff, these guys could be as silly as they wanted and it seemed to work.