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Chaplin

Chaplin

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of the decades best
Review: robert downey shines in this great film.chaplin the man was a genius pure and simple.there's nothing that the man could not do.and robert gives a great performance.i loved the book on chaplin as well.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GIFTED ACTOR is exceptionally brilliant as Chaplin!
Review: Robert Downey, Jr. should have indeed won an Oscar for his stunningly brilliant performance in Chaplin. No other actor could have ever portrayed Chaplin as Downey did. If you want to see Downey at his best, I highly recommend this contemporary classic. This gifted actor deserves scripts like Chaplin and would be in the calibur of the greats if society would give him a chance to fully recover from his illness. This video is a must see.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Brilliantly Executed with A Terrific Cast!
Review: Sir Charles would've been very pleased. This film stars Robert Downey, Jr. as the legendary Little Tramp, and is directed by Richard Attenborough. Many other actors including Dan Aykroyd, David Duchovny, Kevin Kline, James Woods, Anthony Hopkins, Marissa Tomei, and many others. What I find lacking in this film is that it didn't cover enough of Chaplin's life, however, may I suggest that you first read his autobiography. (Titled My Autobiography, which I purchased here at Amazon!) Then watch the movie. The ending is one of the most touching things I have ever seen on film. Robert Downey is magnificent, and must've have studied Chaplin's every move.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Weak
Review: The great failure of this film is not its acting, that is obvious from the talent assembled. It is not in the props. The props are absolutely perfect in authenticity. What sinks the film is the screenplay, Downey's one-dimentional depiction of Chaplin, and a director too clueless to notice what these were doing to his picture. According to his leading ladies, Chaplin was only depressed and brooding when he was creatively blocked. In Chaplin he is depicted as always depressed. There isn't one montage to show him as the directorial dirvige he was described as being by those who knew him. Instead of directing Downey out of this emotional rut, he plods along through Chaplin's life like a man walking from fencepost to fencepost. Ebert was right, the parts are there for a much better film; too bad no one made it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: worth watching for David Duchovny
Review: The only reason I watch this movie is for David Duchovny's parts. He is so cute in that hat. He has come a long way, and I am happy for him.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Robert Downey, Jr. as you've never seen him before
Review: The star of this film is the amazing replications of Chaplin's use of physical comedy and intense passion for filmmaking the "tramp" had for his craft. Robert Downey, Jr. literally steals the show away from such heavyweights as Anthony Hopkins and the film's director, Richard Attenborough.

Though Attenborough, he himself an Oscar winning director, does some clever things to draw you into the world of Chaplin (making the film look old and distressed, using the same shakey "hand-cranking" speeds for action sequences, and use of moody, uneven lighting), his tempo for the film seems painfully slow at times, and at over two hours, the picture feels much longer.

The film is packed with stars in small roles, as everyone plays second banana to Chaplin--Marisa Tomei, Milla Jovovich, David Duchovney, Dan Akroyd, Moira Kelly, and Geraldine Chaplin, just to name a few. The period accuracy is well done, and the acting is superb, however, the direction is heavy-handed--a major fault of Attenborough's other films, too, and leaves you feeling frustrated--just show more of Chaplin doing what he does best--making people laugh!

To his credit, however, the director does show Chaplin as the social activist who had an FBI file close to 2,000 pages in length. The drama, at times, seemed a bit much for someone known for bringing joy to so many...perhaps, therein lies the irony of Chaplin's life. See this film to be educated, and see it to see Robert Downey, Jr. in top form in this Oscar nominated performance and ode to one of cinema's greatest artists who was the forerunner for such "control freaks" as Warren Beatty and Orson Wells. Writer, director, actor, producer, editor...Chaplin did it all!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Robert Downey, Jr. as you've never seen him before
Review: The star of this film is the amazing replications of Chaplin's use of physical comedy and intense passion for filmmaking the "tramp" had for his craft. Robert Downey, Jr. literally steals the show away from such heavyweights as Anthony Hopkins and the film's director, Richard Attenborough.

Though Attenborough, he himself an Oscar winning director, does some clever things to draw you into the world of Chaplin (making the film look old and distressed, using the same shakey "hand-cranking" speeds for action sequences, and use of moody, uneven lighting), his tempo for the film seems painfully slow at times, and at over two hours, the picture feels much longer.

The film is packed with stars in small roles, as everyone plays second banana to Chaplin--Marisa Tomei, Milla Jovovich, David Duchovney, Dan Akroyd, Moira Kelly, and Geraldine Chaplin, just to name a few. The period accuracy is well done, and the acting is superb, however, the direction is heavy-handed--a major fault of Attenborough's other films, too, and leaves you feeling frustrated--just show more of Chaplin doing what he does best--making people laugh!

To his credit, however, the director does show Chaplin as the social activist who had an FBI file close to 2,000 pages in length. The drama, at times, seemed a bit much for someone known for bringing joy to so many...perhaps, therein lies the irony of Chaplin's life. See this film to be educated, and see it to see Robert Downey, Jr. in top form in this Oscar nominated performance and ode to one of cinema's greatest artists who was the forerunner for such "control freaks" as Warren Beatty and Orson Wells. Writer, director, actor, producer, editor...Chaplin did it all!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's Chaplin and Robert Downey's film
Review: There are absolutely no other actors who could protrait Charlie Chaplin as brilliantly as Robert Downey Jr. did in this film, with the look, the physicality and the acting capacity. Period! The actor should have won the Oscar for this. I only wished, after watching it, the film could cover more on Chaplin's film making side.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Detailed dive into dynamic comic...
Review: This film truly is a masterpiece. It's a crime Robert Downey Jr. didn't win the oscar for this role that he filled perfectly. The portrail of Chaplin does not skim over his faults. And although the film doesn't delve too deep into Chaplin's darker side, it goes beneath the glossy surface you are likely to have seen in biography shows on TV.

Touchs on all the major events in the life of Charlie Chaplin.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Great Movie, but only if you're Spanish
Review: This is a cinematic masterpiece. Wonderfully acted and beautifully filmed. Robert Downey Jr. could not have done a more masterful job portraying the great Charlie Chaplin. The film flowed well, leaving out very little of the major events in his life. The only thing that kept me from giving it a 5 was that it only made subtitle available in Spanish! For the life of me I could not understand why the subtitles were not made available in English! This was a major problem if one had difficulty understanding the clipped dialogue of the English accents used in the film. I would love to have the same DVD availablle with English subtitles.

Dr. Don Priola


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