As we reported last week, Casey Affleck's documentary about his brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix's apparent meltdown, is finished. Potential buyers saw it, and according to the LA Times, remained completely unclear about whether or not it was real or Memorex. A poll of the paper's readers currently stands at 89% believing it's all an elaborate, Andy-Kaufman-like spoof, but Affleck has insisted to ABC News that the film really is the real deal. Curiouser and curiouser.
**I'm Still Here: The Lost Year of Joaquin Phoenix **is, says Affleck, an "unbelievable, one-of-a-kind movie". He says the film bears witness both to "the public spectacle and a very private internal implosion." Sounds painful.
"I wanted to explore what I thought would be an interesting period in Joaquin's life," continues Casey. "He wanted to give up acting and try doing music, and that, right there, says something's going to happen. But I had no idea what would unfold..."
Leaked details from the happy few who have seen it, reveal that the film shows Phoenix trying to get an extremely uninterested Puff Sean Diddy Combs to produce his album, flatly turning down an offer from Ben Stiller to star in Greenberg, and coming across as a) generally unsympathetic, and b) not very good at hip-hop. There's also a lot of full-frontal nudity, and a scene where someone takes a dump on Phoenix while he's asleep (maybe that's the internal implosion Affleck was talking about).
Affleck, of course, would claim hands-up innocence at this stage, hoax or otherwise. It wouldn't much help the advance publicity if he burst the mystique bubble that the film is currently enjoying. There's one thing he's certainly telling the truth about though: "Joaquin's motive was nothing that anybody ever guessed..."
No answers yet then. The truth is still out there. We'll keep you posted.