What Happened to Todd Phillips?

Last Updated on December 9, 2024

A young film student contacts an artist to design a poster for his new documentary about a musician. The film student was named Todd Phillips, the musician was named GG Allin and the artist was named John Wayne Gacy… who happens to be an infamous serial killer known for dressing like a clown. This artistic contribution earned Gacy an “executive producer” credit and gave the documentary some dark twisted notoriety – not that GG Allin needed any. That’s right: the director of Joker got his start thanks to a real-life serial killing clown. Director Todd Phillips went on to bring us some of the most interesting and hilarious films of the past few decades. He was pumping out groundbreaking blockbusters left and right for years, surprising us all with classics like The Hangover and Joker and instantly disappointing us all with their sequels. But has Todd Phillips sung his last great cinematic song?

Early days and GG Allin

He was born in New York City circa 1970 and started to make waves with a documentary he made while a student at NYU. It went on to become one of the highest-grossing student films ever. Todd’s attraction to chaos and controversy was evident from the start because the subject of this banned documentary was punk rock icon, GG Allin. This man’s dedication to anarchy made Joker seem like a Saturday morning cartoon and Todd Phillips’ film showed it all. The doc was called Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies.

The Frat Pack

Phillips would continue his documentary hot streak by co-directing Frat House which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. This college fraternity flick would allow Todd to make more college frat flicks like Road Trip and Old School. This resulted in what scholars have called The Frat Pack, which, for a time, changed the way Hollywood made comedy and who they would cast to tell the jokes. This elite circle of cinematic comedians seemed to center around superstars like Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, but really, it was all thanks to Todd. 

The Hangover

He would next write and direct Starsky & Hutch, which was surprisingly decent, followed up by the forgettable School for Scoundrels. He directed a little bit of Borat but dropped out due to creative differences but still received an Oscar nomination for helping craft the screenplay. Then came The Hangover in 2008. I still remember sitting in a packed theatre with constant laughter; everyone in that audience could feel that we were witnessing something special, the chemistry of the cast, the delivery of the jokes, the outrageous situations, and its tone and attitude were refreshingly rebellious. It was a masterclass in cinematic comedy. We loved the Frat Pack stuff, but it was time to wake up and feel this beautiful cinematic hangover, which just happens to be from the same joker who gave us those Frat Pack movies. The Hangover became a Golden Globe-nominated blockbuster with over $400 million at the box office. But it seemed like the mega success hit Todd a little too fast and furious, which led to misguided sequels and the forgettable weak Hangover imitation called Due Date, which made lots of money but gave us a feeling like Todd Phillips was now stuck as an artist. He couldn’t keep making Hangover clones forever… even though Hangover Part Three is an underrated course correction, overshadowed by the atrocious Part Two. 

War Dogs and switching gears

It was time to try something different, which is what War Dogs was. Sometimes, when you are known for comedies and want to get dramatic, you need transition films, movies that have drama at their core but still dip a toe or a whole foot into comedy just enough for the marketing team to allow a few laughs in the trailer. War Dogs is an interesting film that didn’t get enough attention. It asks questions and gets dark, revealing to many that Todd Phillips was not just “that Hangover dude”, not just a “comedian” with a camera but a full-fledged filmmaker. Phillips has even spoken out against “woke” culture and criticized how there are unofficial rules in comedy now and everyone is too focused on being politically correct which has forced him to take a few steps away from the genre. Even though nothing could prepare us for the next film and the next “joke” that Mr. Phillips would tell. 

Joker

Joker is an arthouse film disguised as a comic book movie and a comic book movie disguised as an arthouse film. It is a Scorsese-influenced character study/commentary on mental health and society and was a pop cultural juggernaut of monumental proportions, making a billion dollars, winning Oscars and sparking fear and conversation that only the most powerful of art can produce. It was the perfect movie at the perfect time. It seemed like Todd’s whole career was leading to the moment to make a film about a broken man trying to tell a broken joke in a broken society. Beautiful, haunting and instantly iconic, Phillips directs a complex protagonist with grace. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime film that should never ever get a sequel, be – regrettably – it did… he Hangover Part Two’d the Joker to the point of no return.

This brings us to Joker: Folie a Deux,a musical mess of a movie that seems to hate itself and everything the original stood for or at least hates its audience for liking the first one. Once again, it looks beautiful but that just isn’t enough. I don’t even mind it being a musical. Joker 1 was very musical, so it makes sense. It is the lack of soul and the brutal unravelling of what we thought was an interesting character. But I guess the joke is on us. Maybe years from now, we will finally be enlightened enough to understand what Todd wanted to say with Joker 2. I think Quentin Tarantino said it best, “The Joker directed that movie.” And when you think of it like that… Todd Phillips told the ultimate cinematic joke and became the Joker himself… which is something only a madman or a genius could do, and maybe you need to be a little of both to make a movie like Todd. 

He is the man who taught us that comedies don’t always have to be shot in a flat, conservative style. Todd lets his lights, his colours, and his camera help tell the joke and bring out the emotion needed with every angle and every movement. The visuals of comedies can be just as cinematic and dramatic as dramas or action. Todd Phillips changed the way we look at the comedy genre twice with Old School and Hangover. And sure, that musical Joker sequel was a horrendous flop, and sure, his Hulk Hogan biopic is probably never gonna happen, but that won’t keep him down. I know this man has a few more beautiful, disgusting, disturbing poetic, and hilarious jokes to tell and some more great films to make.