One of my earliest memories is traveling with my parents and my older sister and staying in a hotel over in eastern Washington. That night, we were watching H.B.O (a rare treat for me at the time,) and the film BATMAN was on. I never looked at clowns the same way.
Since everyone knows the story behind Batman, I’ll skip right to the review part. I’ll also add that I know very little about the comics, having only read a few of them. That being said, Michael Keaton plays Batman/Bruce Wayne with just the right balance of anger, obsession and intelligence. He’s a guy with a strong desire to do good, but greatly fears the idea of becoming the type of person he hunts. That brings us to the villain of the piece, the yin to Batman’s yang, the day to his night and the root of my intense distrust for clowns and their kind, The Joker. In the hands of the great Jack Nicholson, the Joker is like a hybrid of Robin Williams and Charles Manson. Again, I know slim to zilch about the comics, but I believe Jack was the perfect choice for such a role, one that makes his character in THE SHINING look calm and well-adjusted. The supporting cast ranges from pretty darn cool (Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance) to just plain uninteresting (Kim Basinger.)
