Chaplin Movie Review

Chaplin (1992)

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Written by: David Robinson (book - Chaplin: His Life and Art) and Charles Chaplin (book - My Autobiography), Diana Hawkins  (story), William Boyd and Bryan Forbes and William Goldman (screenplay)
Directed by: Richard Attenborough
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Geraldine Chaplin, Paul Rhys, Moira Kelly, Anthony Hopkins, Dan Aykroyd, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Kline, Milla Jovovich, Diane Lane, David Duchovny
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
A film about the troubled and controversial life of the master comedy filmmaker Charles Chaplin.

Verdict
Downey delivers a great performance in a movie that feels more like a list of historical events than a movie. Chaplin's influence was huge, and this provides great insight into the events of his life. The difficulty in capturing Chaplin's life is that it starts to feel like a list of highlights without taking the time to develop the plot. The performance becomes more subdued as we enter the later years of Chaplin's life. Downey's performance is great, but it gets stretched when he begins playing a much older Chaplain.
It depends.

Review
While Robert Downey Jr. had a full career before Iron Man, it's difficult to see him as anything else now. He does a great job as Chaplin, from the walk to the mannerisms. Surprisingly he looks a lot like Chaplin.

Moira Kelly and Robert Downey Jr. play Hetty Kelly and Charlie Chaplain.

I enjoy the way this starts. Chaplin goes to a dressing room and takes off his makeup, revealing the man behind the mask. Then this jumps back in time to Chaplin as a kid. The movie is framed by an older Chaplin writing an autobiography with an author. This provides voice over and exposition. Being from 1992 I'll forgive that.

We see Chaplin's childhood, his start in Hollywood, and the birth of his iconic character the Tramp. I give Downey credit, he really looks like Chaplin and the Tramp. This provides the events of Chaplin's life, his rise to fame and his struggles with liking younger women, but it rarely connects on an emotional level. I found it difficult to remain invested in the movie. Chaplin's best movies were about something. Modern Times was a response to The Great Depression and The Great Dictator parodied Hitler, produced and released before the U.S. even entered the war. How can a movie that merely mentions these achievements without exploring them hope to compete? Chaplin is a great comedic figure in history. This movie only manages to cover the highlights.

Robert Downey Jr. plays Charlie Chaplain's The Little Tramp.

I really like the scene of Chaplain and Fairbanks discussing how talking movies will never catch on while climbing the "Hollywoodland" sign. The future only brings change, nothing stays the same. Chaplain did eventually make a talkie.

Downey trying to play an older Chaplain.

 A movie could be made just about Chaplain's journey in creating The Great Dictator, his first talkie. It's difficult to do justice to everything in Chaplain's life without feeling like a list of bullet points.