Joaquin Phoenix Returns to David Letterman’s ‘Late Show’: as I saw this I could not help but to feel depressed

It’s the sequel so many have been waiting for: tonight, Joaquin Phoenix returned to David Letterman ‘s “Late Show” to promote his apparent mockumentary, ” I’m Still Here .” It marked the first time Phoenix has appeared on a late night talk show since he infamously stuck gum on Letterman’s desk while guesting on the show in 2009. This time, Phoenix walked out on stage clean shaven and dressed in a suit and a tie, unlike the “character” he played when he was on the show last year. Letterman pointed this out as he began the interview – contrasting his behavior and appearance a year and a half ago. “I’ve been to see your movies, I’ve always liked you. And then there are the small mysteries, of which the puzzle of actor Joaquin Phoenix’s sincerity would rank among the tiniest. I recognize you as a powerful talent – that Johnny Cash thing, you were tremendous in that. “I hope I didn’t offend you in any way.” The appearance turned out to be an act. “Every one of them was a dinger,” he said. Gee, I think we witnessed two guys hustling each other, and their audiences.

Which suggests that Letterman probably had gotten the memo as well. You don’t go out,” Letterman said. At Letterman’s urging, Phoenix made clear that the talk-show host was not in on the joke. Phoenix thanked Letterman for letting him on the show both times and apologized for any trouble he caused. “We’d hoped to come on a talk show,” Phoenix said with a laugh, “and I was looking for a beat down, and I got one … Scenes of nudity and general debauchery that might have been shocking decades ago hardly raise an eyebrow now. “You’ve interviewed many, many people and I assumed that you would know the difference between a character and a real person, so — but I apologize,” Phoenix said. Affleck dogs Phoenix as he lurches around the U.S., engaging in increasingly ridiculous acts that in the film rapidly cease to be amusing and instead become pathetic.

“I hope I didn’t offend you in any way.” Letterman said he took no offense and said it was much fun and “it was like batting practice.” Phoenix said he hoped to appear on a talk show and received the “beatdown” he wanted. “I was eager to thank you for the opportunity and I was really eager to get off the show,” he said. Phoenix said the whole point of the appearance was to do something authentic for the mockumentary. Affleck, who appeared with Jay Leno on the “Tonight” show Tuesday, said no one from Hollywood called to express concern about Phoenix when he was acting strangely. He then puts his publicists and assistants to the test, as he badgers them to line him up with hip-hop producers for his rebirth as a rapper, something for which he demonstrates no talent whatsoever. “We didn’t know how the public would respond…it snowballed and it became a big thing,” he said. “I’m not sure I have much of a career right now,” Phoenix admitted during the interview.

“It makes me think of ‘Candid Camera’ or something.” Critical reception to the film has been mixed. In the Chicago Sun-Times , Roger Ebert called “I’m Still Here” “A sad and painful documentary that serves little useful purpose other than to pound another nail into the coffin.