Review: You Were Never Really Here

You Were Never Really Here could be regarded as an impressionistic modern take on Taxi Driver as it shares a similar basic narrative and a central character willing to commit great harm in order to do good.  If they could stand each other's company, I suspect De Niro's and Phoenix's characters would have plenty to talk about.

Both films are relentlessly urban with a kaleidoscope of cityscapes, and in You Were Never Really Here's case - a discordant jungle for a soundtrack punctuated by flashbacks of his abusive childhood, work in the FBI & military and POV episodes of psychosis.  Pulling out a narrative out of this, is not always easy.

Phoenix is simply wonderful in this. A gruff sympathetic bear of a man who penetrates a Pizzagate like conspiracy seemly only armed with a roll of duct tape and a ball-peen hammer. Thankfully, most of the brutality is only implied.

The film wisely chooses to stay a taut 90 mins. That's enough to leave an impression, and ensures it never drags.

Verdict: Phoenix soars in this psycho-noir.