I had incredibly high expectations for Joker and I’m pleased to say that they were absolutely blown away. Todd Phillips made a nearly-perfect film and Joaquin Phoenix gives the performance of his career.
I say nearly perfect because he did make some admittedly small mistakes along the way.
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See which ones you were able to spot when you check out these 10+ mistakes in Joker that fans didn’t notice.
Can you spare a french-fry?
When the three sleazy Wall Street guys begin harassing the young woman on the train, you can see a single fry on the ground beside her foot.
But in the very next shot, as the camera cuts to Arthur, the fry mysteriously vanishes.
There’s no way that Arthur and his mother could have afforded an automated phone answering machine.
When answering machines first hit the market, they weren’t cheap. The first model retailed at over $700.
In 1981, the average discount cost would have been anywhere from $200-$250 plus a monthly service fee.
Was the sign already broken?
You’re going to really need to slow this scene down in order to capture the error.
But if you pause it just right, you can clearly see Arthur’s sign break apart a split second before he’s hit with it.
Cellphones didn’t exist.
If you look in the windows as the camera pans the street shops of Gotham, you’ll notice a sign that seems very out of place.
A window reads “Cellphones fixed here,” but the earliest cellphones weren’t made widely available to the public until the mid-80s.
Why didn’t Penny Fleck’s heartrate increase?
It’s up for debate as to whether or not this mistake is intentional because many will speculate that this scene only happened in Arthur’s mind.
In the real world, the nurses would have been alerted to Penny’s plight by the beeps on the ECG.
Broselow tape wasn’t invented yet.
Take a look behind Arthur at the large medical cart with the multi-colored drawers. It’s what’s known as a Broselow Cart: each drawer is filled with meds and is color-coded to a different child in the ward.
The only problem with this is that Broselow tape wasn’t invented until 1985 and Joker takes place four years earlier.
How did Arthur get out of the fridge?
Sure, everyone loved the moment when Arthur climbed inside the fridge. It was as visually impressive as it was symbolic.
It doesn’t make a lot of sense, though. For one thing, the door would have locked behind him. So how did Arthur escape?
Those guitars aren’t from the ’80s.
If you take a peek at the acoustic and electric guitars displayed in the windows of Kenny’s Music Shop, you’ll notice something is off.
Those guitars are all made by a company called D’Angelico , and all appear to be 2018 models.
Arthur fires too many shots.
Arthur’s gun is a .36 Smith & Wesson Chief’s Special . Those guns hold a maximum number of five bullets.
In order to kill the three Wall Street men, Arthur fires off nine rounds — without reloading I should add.
What’s a bikeshare rack doing in 1981?
We’ve come a long way as a society when it comes to being eco-conscious. One thing that most definitely didn’t exist in the 1980s was the concept of ride-sharing.
As Arthur is being driven away in the police car, a bike rack can be seen.
Arthur’s body changes positions.
At the beginning of the movie, Arthur is beaten by a group of young thugs.
Take a close look at his body position as the camera cuts and you’re bound to notice that his body changes from laying horizontal to vertical.
Who moved Arthur’s cigarette?
This mistake occurs right as Arthur is practicing his introduction for The Murray Franklin Show . When he extinguishes the smoke, it’s standing up.
But when the camera zooms out after Arthur sits back down, the butt is now on its side.
Did Arthur light another cigarette?
Arthur’s dance down the steps is probably the most iconic scene of the entire film. Right before he lets loose, Arthur flicks his cigarette down the steps.
Yet when the police come chasing, all of a sudden Arthur has a lit smoke back in his mouth.
Keanu Reeves makes an unexpected cameo appearance.
If you look at the screen in the top left corner of the image, you’ll see an ad for Corn Flakes that features a very young Keanu Reeves !
A quick fact check will show that this commercial wasn’t released until 1987.
The Energizer Bunny wasn’t around back then.
In the very same shot, take a look at the screen directly over Arthur’s head. It’s a very early commercial for the Energizer Bunny.
Once again, Joker takes place in 1981 and the mascot wasn’t introduced until October of 1989.
