Landman Star Jacob Lofland Played A Small But Important Role In Joker 2

"Landman" stars Jacob Lofland as Cooper Norris, the highly educated son of oilman Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton) and his ex-wife Angela (Ali Larter). At the start of the series, Cooper drops out of Texas Tech to take a job on his father's oil farms. It doesn't go well. In the show's first episode, Cooper is present for a disastrous oil explosion. Resentments grow, and Cooper's story gets complicated quickly. He learns how to manage his new job eventually, but he also discovers that his dad's business is connected to criminals and mobsters. "Landman" is not a particularly realistic series, and it can be a tad confusing to follow at times — so much so that Lofland was once compelled to explain the timeline for season 2 in an interview.

"Landman" has been a boon for Lofland's career, though, what with it being the latest in a long string of hit Paramount+ shows developed by Taylor Sheridan (the creator of "Yellowstone" and its multiple spinoffs, as well as series like "Tulsa King" and "Mayor of Kingstown"). If you're not watching Sheridan's shows, your dad probably is. Prior to his entry into the Sheridan-verse, a teenaged Lofland made his screen debut in "Mud," a moody and textured 2012 drama directed by Jeff Nichols. The actor would later go on to appear in the YA sci-fi films "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" and "Maze Runner: The Death Cure," along with the Western show "The Son" (which ran from 2017-2019) and 10 episodes of the hit series "Justified."

This brings us to "Joker: Folie à Deux." The 2024 "Joker" sequel features Lofland in a small but pivotal role as Ricky Meline, an Arkham Asylum inmate who gets involved with Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck ... only to suffer a grim fate that leaves Arthur deeply unsettled.

"Joker: Folie à Deux" is a curious film indeed. Because the first "Joker" was a billion-dollar box office success, a sequel was inevitable, but the one that Todd Phillips directed was almost designed to deliberately alienate fans of the original film. Some might recall that "Joker" was released amidst a cloud of concern. It was an origin story for the famed clown-themed Batman villain, but it also affected a dour, smoky tone lifted from Martin Scorsese movies like "The King of Comedy" and "Taxi Driver." Before "Joker" came out, some pundits feared it would venerate the villain too much, making his insecurities and incel-style complaints seem valid to a generation of angry young internet users. "Joker" did have some of those elements, to be fair, but it wasn't the poem to lonely, violent white guys that some feared it might be. 

Regardless, "Folie à Deux" seemingly aimed to belittle anyone who actually bothered to admire Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur/Joker in the first movie. The bulk of "Folie à Deux" is a courtroom drama where Arthur is put on trial for his crimes and misdeeds. He is meant to look as risible and pathetic as possible. The only people who admire him are sniveling yes-men or violent buffoons ... with Jacob Lofland's Arkham Asylum inmate Ricky being one of the people who looks up to Arthur. Late in the film, when Arthur is being abused by Arkham guards, Ricky is the one who stands up to defend him. For his trouble, Ricky is strangled to death by the guards. 

Arthur believes Ricky is one of the only "good" people around him, so his murder makes Arthur realize just how far-gone things have become. Lofland's screen time isn't extensive, but his role is significant.