While having a reputation for its slow pace, The Godfather's performances and tense atmosphere make every scene a pleasure to watch. In the end, the duration feels just right. The film does border on sentimentalism at times, but never departs from its earnest depiction of sociopathic barbarism that masquerades itself as "honest business." The mafia is shown their true colours as backstabbing power-hungry dangerous men with no place in any civilized society-do not let their style and presentation fool you otherwise.

What begins as a comedic social satire soon descends into sharp absurdism depicting the apathetic and degrading treatment of the poor by the economic elite. The escalation of violence is understandable once it is made apparent just how apathetic the house owners are to those dying right in front of them... With the rich father being more disgusted by the smell than the carnage itself. It is a very wonderfully crafted depiction. While the caretaking family does commit fraud, their actions are simply to survive and create a ladder that has been otherwise made inaccessible... Although they too themselves are not immune to the allure of the niceties of luxury... Ultimately a night of reckless greed inadvertently leads to their own demise. The ending is icing on the cake and highlights the futile struggle of those born at the bottom to ever hope to own what is held carelessly by the top. The son of the caretaking family hopes to someday purchase the luxury house as his father has been forced to hide in the bunker to avoid persecution by the authorities. Of course, save for some miracle of chance, there is no hope to achieve this in their economic situation. Performances are masterclass in this film by the entire cast. What is in essence a mundane situation is made interesting and thrilling by the excellent direction and screenplay.

Joker is hated by mainstream reviewers for showing unapologetically, albeit in dramatized style, the harsh reality of systematic abuse and apathy the mentally ill and impoverished face every day. It takes the radical position of depicting people similar to the fictional Thomas Wayne as not the solution, but rather the problem. The poor to people like Thomas Wayne are clowns, not even worthy of contempt. If only they'd work as hard as he, then maybe they'd share his wealth and success! Or so he'd like to believe. His son Bruce will presumably grow up to become Batman, a rich spoiled vigilante that gets his kicks by beating up opportunistic criminals in an urban environment of decay and destitution. Like his father, Bruce is merely part of the problem at best is a symptom of a society facing total moral collapse. Arthur from the moment of conception is abandoned and left to be abused by a narcissistic "caretaker" and her bad boy boyfriend. He grows up horrifically broken and fantasizes receiving fatherly love from a talk show host. This is the kind of man that is starved of love and has known only the vicious callousness of his anomic society. It's hard to say if Arthur would have grown or developed normally to begin with, but the fact of the matter is: he is given no chance or hope. His only path is to become insane. All other doors have been shut... Instead of helping Arthur, his society cuts his meager therapy and leaves him without his many prescriptions. Arthur is subject to physical abuse without any recourse. And the man he came to fantasize as a fatherly figure, ridicules and mocks Arthur for the sake of empty entertainment. The end result is not surprising.