Director : Richard Attenborough
Producer : Richard Attenborough
Screenwriter : William Boyd, Bryan Forbes, William Goldman
Starring : Robert Downey Jr., Geraldine Chaplin, Paul Rhys, John Thaw, Moira Kelly, Anthony Hopkins, Dan Aykroyd, Marisa Tomei, Penelope Ann Miller, Kevin Kline, Maria Pitillo, Milla Jovovich, Kevin Dunn, Deborah Moore, Diane Lane, Nancy Travis, James Woods
Movies about movie stars are always a dodgy affair. They reek of in-jokes,
chumminess, and a glossy version of Hollywood that has never really existed.
As actors go, Charlie Chaplin is at least a worthy candidate for a biopic. His
impact on the acting profession and especially physical comedy is hard to
overstate, and the man remains an icon whose face (or silhouette) embodies
cinema. In the hands of Richard Attenborough, Chaplin's life is digested into
the highlights -- from vaudevillian youth to his arrival in Hollywood to his
amazingly fast rise to fame. Attenborough even dabbles in Chaplin's
investigation by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. Naturally, the running series of
Chaplin's famous romantic entanglements are carefully tallied, the actresses
playing the various Mrs. Chaplins (and near misses) making up a who's who of
early-'90s starlets.
Robert Downey Jr. is excellent in the title role -- though the "old man" makeup
used for Chaplin's later years is absolutely awful. He has a knack for the
physical and of course Downey's rapier wit is just right for the part. He bears
a strong physical resemblance to Chaplin, too.
While the actors can't be faulted for any failings in the production, it's easy
to look to the rambling, dreamy script and Attenborough's gimmicky direction
for softness. Attenborough clearly suffers from a hero worship problem here,
lavishing the man with praise and too-easily forgiving his flaws. The film's
structure -- Chaplin meeting with a book editor (Anthony Hopkins) as he works
through his autobiography -- tries to hint that Chaplin is the one doing the
glossing over. After all, they're his memoirs. But really this is Attenborough
picking and choosing what he'd like us to see, the warts all carefully buffed
away. It's a loving and often endearing homage to a man, but as with all things
Hollywood, it ain't history.
The 15th Anniversary DVD includes making-of featurettes and a Chaplin home
movie.
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" Good "
Rating: PG-13, 1992
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