The great celebrity parlor game of the moment – Is Joaquin Phoenix having a nervous breakdown or is it all an elaborate hoax? – gets a major refueling with the nationwide release of his latest, and purportedly last, film, TWO LOVERS. Whichever interpretation of his actions you choose to believe, one thing is definitely clear- his character in TWO LOVERS is completely consistent with his “character” on THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN.

But first, a little background. Last Fall, Phoenix made a kind of haphazard announcement on the red carpet that he was giving up acting, that TWO LOVERS was going to be his acting swan song. He instead was going to pursue a career in music, preferably something hip-hop. While doing publicity for the film early this year, Phoenix reiterated his desire to leave movies behind and begin a rap career. This was met with continued skepticism among the press and his many fans. What added to the bizarre nature of Phoenix’s career transition was the fact that Academy-Award nominee Casey Affleck started following him around with a documentary film crew. When Entertainment Weekly cited sources close to Phoenix saying this whole thing was an elaborate hoax that Phoenix had decided to play straight, straight to the bitter end, it definitely took on a kind of Andy Kaufman vibe.

Things only got stranger with his disheveled appearance on Letterman’s show. Phoenix was roundly mocked, so much so that he was caricatured in back-to-back parodies on the Independent Spirit Awards and more significantly on the Academy Awards, watched by billions. The blogosphere went crazy with speculation and debate. Was he losing his mind? Was he high on drugs? Did he deserve our pity or our scorn? Was he putting Letterman on?

Earlier on the day of his Letterman appearance, Phoenix met with a roundtable of online interviewers who report that his unkempt look, shaggy long hair and messy full beard, was on full display but that otherwise he was serious and lucid with them. The fact that they talked to him more about his planned music career than his most recent movie might have had something to do with that, but still, it seems to dampen the notion Phoenix is losing his grip on reality.

And now we have his Leonard from TWO LOVERS. Leonard is a mumbling 30-something depressive, who’s extemely ill at ease with people. He’s never been able to overcome the heartbreak of losing his fiance, and is coping as best he can after surviving a couple of suicide attempts and a stint at a mental hospital.

If Leonard had grown a beard, let his hair go wild, put on shades, and then gone on Letterman, he would have acted a lot like Joaquin Phoenix did that notorious night. For starters, Leonard is constantly chewing gum, like Phoenix on Letterman. In one scene in the movie, he catches himself chewing gum at a fancy restaurant and promptly takes it out of his mouth and sticks it hurriedly under the table, again just like Phoenix on Letterman. Leonard also hems and haws a lot in conversation while nervously scratching his neck, also like the Letterman Phoenix.

Perhaps most tellingly, Leonard doesn’t shut people out – he continually tries to carry on conversations, especially with the women in his life, despite his crippling awkwardness and shyness. And I think, contrary to the general consensus, Phoenix, rather than stonewalling Letterman, actually WAS trying to have a conversation with him until the host’s sharp cracks and the audience’s piling on finally derailed the attempted chit-chat once and for all.

Many people, including the ever-witty TBTL host Luke Burbank, have praised Letterman’s masterful handling of his recalcitrant guest. They cheer his razor-sharp cracks at Phoenix’s expense, those funny, funny jokes that singe his guest and encourage the audience to add fuel to the bonfire. But if you go back and watch the interchange closely, I think it’s clear Letterman is on the offensive from the get-go and Phoenix is forced into a defensive mode pretty early on.
It starts with Dave taking a swipe at Joaquin’s beard, which Phoenix responds to by saying he had liked it but that Letterman’s question had made him feel a little weird about it. Then when he starts scratching it a bit and Letterman asks whether it itches all the time, Phoenix confesses that it’s just a nervous tic of his. The audience here starts laughing at him a bit, especially when he doesn’t come up with his co-star’s name (Gwyneth Paltrow). It continues uncomfortably for a bit more before Letterman launches a comic grenade about Phoenix’s days with the Unabomber. Phoenix doesn’t respond but looks peeved. Letterman gets another good crack in before asking him about why he wants to forsake acting for music. Phoenix does his best to explain that it’s not a very easy thing to explain and when he mentions hip-hop the audience just breaks up. Phoenix returns the salvo with a crack about the audience being “on” something to react that way … The tone has clearly been set. From here on in, Phoenix’s often stumbling answers get continually cut off by the increasingly impatient host.

The rest of the interview consists of Letterman cleverly ripping him every time Phoenix tries to answer his questions. Sample- JP: I’d love to come on your show to perform my music. DL: You know, that seems unlikely. (Audience cheers its approval.) Letterman then slams him for chewing gum on his show, mocks his words of praise for something, and then finishes him off with a rhetorical flourish: I’m sorry you couldn’t be here tonight. Despite all the insults, Phoenix actually cracks a smile and tells Letterman he’s very funny. But it’s a joyless compliment.

I understand that if, say, Hugh Grant had been on the receiving end of Letterman’s quips, he would have laughed them off good-naturedly and probably thrown in a self-deprecating quip of his own. But Phoenix has never been a natural self-promoter and has always seemed rather uncomfortable in the spotlight.
That discomfort was on full display during Letterman’s show and when Letterman smelled blood, he pounced. I realize this may all have been a carefully orchestrated set piece arranged by both men, but if not: Letterman is a bully.