Chaplin (1992)
Isn’t it a wonderful treat to watch a biopic where the lead actor or actress actually does his or her homework? Let’s not talk about the others, the ones that make you wonder why he or she was cast, and why he or she wasn’t fired before the final performance made it to the big screen. In Chaplin, you won’t be able to tell the difference between Charlie Chaplin and Robert Downey Jr. They will become one and the same, and it’s incredible. I’m not normally a fan of Downey Jr., but this is, without a doubt, a wonderful performance. If he was this good in all his movies, he wouldn’t be stuck making comic book blockbusters.
Starting off with an elderly Chaplin/Downey Jr., Anthony Hopkins comes to assist him in writing his memoirs. Normally, I don’t like the flashback style of filmmaking, but since the rest of the movie is so great, I’ve overlooked it. You’ll get to see recreations of famous scenes, learn backstage tidbits, and see the private side of the great silent screen comic. Others will join him and please old movie buffs, like Kevin Kline playing Douglas Fairbanks, Diane Lane as Paulette Goddard, Matthew Cottle as Stan Laurel, Maria Pitillo as Mary Pickford, but like tour-de-force performances often do, they eclipse everyone else in the movie. You’ll also see Marisa Tomei, Dan Aykroyd, Penelope Ann Miller, Milla Jovovich, James Woods, and David Duchovny in the supporting cast. Geraldine Chaplin even plays her own grandmother! For all intents and purposes, however, there’s only one actor in Chaplin: Charlie himself. If you only think of Robert Downey, Jr. as the snarky Tony Stark or as the romantic hero in Only You, rent this one and gain a new respect for him.
More Kevin Kline movies here!
Starting off with an elderly Chaplin/Downey Jr., Anthony Hopkins comes to assist him in writing his memoirs. Normally, I don’t like the flashback style of filmmaking, but since the rest of the movie is so great, I’ve overlooked it. You’ll get to see recreations of famous scenes, learn backstage tidbits, and see the private side of the great silent screen comic. Others will join him and please old movie buffs, like Kevin Kline playing Douglas Fairbanks, Diane Lane as Paulette Goddard, Matthew Cottle as Stan Laurel, Maria Pitillo as Mary Pickford, but like tour-de-force performances often do, they eclipse everyone else in the movie. You’ll also see Marisa Tomei, Dan Aykroyd, Penelope Ann Miller, Milla Jovovich, James Woods, and David Duchovny in the supporting cast. Geraldine Chaplin even plays her own grandmother! For all intents and purposes, however, there’s only one actor in Chaplin: Charlie himself. If you only think of Robert Downey, Jr. as the snarky Tony Stark or as the romantic hero in Only You, rent this one and gain a new respect for him.
More Kevin Kline movies here!