~plus one star for the random david duchovny cameo
~minus one star for the random james woods cameo. didn't he date a 19 year old when he was 60.........?

I first watched this in a film studies class and have wanted to rewatch ever since.

I am so glad I did.

Downey Jr. made the perfect Chaplin and this reminded me why I fell in love with film and the man himself. I am slowly working my way through Chaplin's extensive filmography and this just makes me want to do it a million times faster.

If, like me, you get way too emotional, stay clear of the end scene. Clips from Chaplin's films cross cut with Downey Jr. shedding a tear at the Oscars will fill your heart with joy as well as tug at it's strings.

'Chaplin has become more than a name, it is a word in the vocabulary of films, and anyone who has ever seen a movie is in his debt.' - Daniel Taradash

to have Robert Downey Jr. publicly perform the exercise of aging as Charlie Chaplin is one of the most perverted things I’ve ever seen in my life

1992

It's telling that the most interesting and moving parts of this are the clips from Chaplin's films played at the end.

Robert Downey Jr. is actually a decent casting, but he's squandered on a totally boring, perfunctory script. I realize that every detail can't be included, but Chaplin doesn't ever feel like it understands Charlie, simplifying his worldview, politics, and craft into something that doesn't ever reflect why he's such a beloved cinematic genius.

And can we please cancel screen wipes? Good lord, I think this has more cheesy transitions than every Star Wars movie of the last decade put together.

Script issues and 'hey look who's playing a famous person' cameos aside, Chaplin is a beautiful film steadily directed by Sir Richard Attenborough but owes its' beauty to Sven Nykvist. He captures time and place as no other, spanning decades.

The real highlight, however, is Robert Downey Jr. who knocks it out of the park on PED's. It is truly as frighteningly authentic depiction of a historical figure that you're likely to see. Considering the physical demands that Chaplin put on himself, the depiction of him carries many of the same challenges. Downey answers all of these, and elevates the film from a formulamatic Hollywood bio-pic to a must see piece of cinema.

Although Robert Downey Jr. gives a remarkable performance, Chaplin suffers from the same issues most biopics have. Both figuratively and literally, Chaplin only presents a highlight reel of the life that helped to revolutionize and innovate a new industry without giving much personal insight. The detached, or perhaps broad, nature of the film is best seen at its conclusion, which seems to focus on the Academy Awards rather than Chaplin himself.

Also, John Barry borrowed a few music cues from Dances with Wolves for this. He's not fooling anybody.

Eh, fine. I suppose this is as much a criticism of biopics in general as it is Chaplin specifically. There wasn’t really a cohesive story. It was more like a greatest hits collection. All the big movies and life events are touched on, but it just feels like a checklist being ticked. There’s really no insight.

It was this biopic that got me interested in Chaplin’s films. I love the scene that shows his struggle to figure out how to depict the blind girl in CITY LIGHTS thinking the Tramp is a rich man. RDJ truly transformed, mimicking Chaplin’s mannerisms.

This was what put RDJ on the map before his drug problems and eventual rise to superstardom as Iron Man. He really did a splendid job playing Charlie Chaplin. I also really enjoyed learning more about the man’s life. I really knew next to nothing about him before this. I really need to see more of his work; I’m familiar but haven’t seen nearly enough. He was after all, the original movie star.

From the introduction you can tell that the filmmakers were extremely mindful of what it takes to tell a highly publicized story like this. The acting is extremely heartfelt, though it is very apparent that it's more than biased in its depiction. It's a great biopic though nonetheless, there are great sequences of comedy and a lot of reflective scenes. Theres a lot of nuance in the stories that are shared and the way that they are shared. Just overall very very good.

Nudity 🤤

Downey and the Tramp — he is brilliant, the film not so much.

How did I not know that J. Edgar Hoover had Charlie Chaplin kicked out of the country? Robert Downey Jr. was amazing, as always.

Love Chaplin. Love the message. Love Robert Downey Jr.’s effort. Alas, there is a reason no one talks about this film anymore. It is too long, clunky, and formulaic.

but doctor, I am pagliacci

I'm rating generously because RDj is really good and I love Music Hall and old Hollywood, but everything else was just awful. This has the absolute worst exposition I've ever seen in a mainstream film. Like when he meets J Edgar Hoover and it doesn't go well, the interviewer/voiceover says, "You really made and enemy there, Charlie."

Honestly better than I was expecting and I love learning from a lengthy biopic but I really wish they would’ve made it much more clear that his wives were all children when they met him