So… is Joaquin Phoenix still an actor? Is he a hip-hop artist? Is he pulling an elaborate prank on all of us and wants more attention because he’s a celebrity and we all know that celebrities need the most attention of any other people ever? To some of you, this question may really matter; you may feel cheated out of a great actor because of some ego trip he went on. But me, I don’t care. I just want to see I’m Still Here.

Whether or not Phoenix has been pulling our tails since late 2008, I’m Still Here looks…interesting. It seems as though, even if it’s a joke, that the dock/mockumentary will be a deep look into the eye of someone. Who? Possibly Phoenix himself, possibly a persona he created, possibly a drunken version of himself played up for the cameras, but definitely someone who’s going through something out of the ordinary.

Why would anyone care about Phoenix at this point anyway? He wasn’t (isn’t?) a particularly good hip-hop artist. (I wasn’t at any of his actual performances, but if the youtube videos are any indication, I’ll pass.) The film comes across, based on the teaser trailer at least, as more of a character piece than it is a full-fledged production. I’d see it based on the Letterman interview back in February 2009 where Phoenix was absolutely nuts, but maybe that’s just me.

The movie was shot by his brother-in-law Casey Affleck so that’s another indicator that it may be an elaborate inside joke, but P. Diddy (or Puffy or Diddy or Sean Combs or whatever it is now) is also involved, trying to make Phoenix successful in the rap game. This probably has nothing to do with it, but Diddy had some pretty funny scenes in Get Him to the Greek too…just saying.

The truth is people love train wrecks. Fake ones are great, but real ones are even better. Look at any reality show. Part of it is scripted, but the best moments are when a “character” totally explodes and goes crazy. Only time will tell if that’s the case here. (Actually, it might not.) But for my money, seeing something this original and insane could hardly be a waste. Right? Hm.