Joaquin Phoenix Has Been to the Mountaintop

At this point, it’s a safe bet that I’m Still Here, Casey Affleck’s “documentary” about the emotional and mental decline of his brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix—and subsequent resurrection as a rapper—is intended as a joke (or, at the very least, some James Franco-like feat of performance art). The trailer, released today without much warning, doesn’t offer much in the way of plot details, though it does confirm that Phoenix—bearded and beer-gutted—is far from his Walk the Line peak. Apparently, he’s left such mortal concerns behind. The trailer’s only dialogue consists of a voiceover, courtesy of a gravely-voiced spiritual adviser, who instructs Phoenix: “That’s you, drops of water. And you’re on top of the mountain—a success—but one day, you start sliding down the mountain. And you think, ‘Wait a minute! I’m a mountaintop water drop. I don’t belong in this valley, this river, this little dark ocean with all these drops of water.'” Drops of water is indeed the route to insanity; whether said strategy is tantamount to entertainment will reportedly be decided September 10, when the film is set for release.