Chaplin (1992)

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Kevin Kline, Anthony Hopkins, Marissa Tomei, Dan Akroyd

Director: Richard Attenborough

The Lowdown: A look at the life of revolutionary silent film star and director Charlie Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr. in an Academy Award nominated role).

My Take:
Charlie Chaplin was one of the most influential and important figures in the history of film. Chaplin was the first person to ever star in, write, direct, write the musical score for and produce his own films. To this day there's not a single filmmaker that can do all those things. Granted John Carpenter has written directed and scored a number of his films and Clint Eastwood has frequently directed and starred in his film and took up scoring them as of late. However, Chaplin was the only one to conquer all of these things and do all of them exceptionally well making classic film after classic film.

Perhaps the biggest question is does the film do the man's legacy justice? The answer is yes and no.

First of all, Robert Downey Jr.'s performance cannot be praised enough and despite any other flaws is reason enough to see this film. Anyone who has ever read extensively about Chaplin or seen any of his films will agree that Downey IS Chaplin in this film. Its one of those remarkable performances where an actor has thrown themselves head first into a performance and disappeared into their character. The fact that Downey so perfectly embodies a real person without resorting to mere mimicry makes it all the more incredible.

That said, in other areas the film's results are a little more mixed in quality. I will say that I think Attenborough's direction was successful overall in getting good performances out of his supporting cast and I enjoyed it whenever the film attempted to emulate the style of Chaplin's own silent films. However, as far as the supporting cast goes Kevin Kline manages to try and bring down most scenes he's in. You never once believe that he is Douglas Fairbanks and more often than not it feels like he's not even trying. Its really a pitiful supporting performance.

Technically the film is also successful with great period costumes and terrific art direction (especially in the behind-the-scenes Hollywood moments). Also, notable is the cinematography from Sven Nykvist, a Swedish DP that made a name for himself as Ingmar Bergman's go to guy for cinematography.

Where the film fails most is probably in its story. With biopics that intend to capture the entire life of a person you usually get a supremely detailed one that's at least 3 hours long or a shorter version that covers most of the highlights and cuts out some of the "less important" bits. "Chaplin" is odd in that it falls somewhere between. At 135 minutes its not really short but because of Chaplin's vast and varied life story that's not nearly enough time to cover all the highlights. As a result, a lot of material is skimmed over. The screenplay hits most of the high and low points of Chaplin's personal life but its alot less successful in covering his filmography. Of Chaplin's classic films only "The Great Dictator's" production is examined in depth and many of Chaplin's films are barely mentioned.

Now I'm not saying I wanted a six hour movie full of scenes of Chaplin shooting scene X for movie A. I merely found it odd that most of his films were not mentioned, in particular I found it curious that "Modern Times", his last silent picture made SEVEN YEARS after the transition to sound, a bold achievement wasn't even mentioned. Perhaps the most notable omission the film makes is that it completely skips over the Chaplin's later talkies. This is probably because none of them were particularly successful in the states and they aren't as popular in general.  However, I think time spent on this period would have given even more insight into why at the end of the film Chaplin feels that American audiences hated him (the film merely relies on the US government asking him to exile himself as reason enough). As a result, the film's final scene, where Chaplin is brought to tears at the surprising (to him) applause he receives before getting his honorary Oscar, all the more moving.

Best Moment: An elderly Chaplin recounts to his biographer an over the top tale of how he went into the studio's costume department and the various components of "The Tramp" (Chaplin's most popular character) were calling out to him. The biographer merely says "Now that's bullshit and you know it". Chaplin's response? "The truth is so... boring."

In Short: While certainly nowhere near the best biopic ever made, "Chaplin" is still an enjoyable and fairly insightful film that's elevated by Robert Downey Jr.'s pitch perfect performance.

8 out of 10