By Lee Pfeiffer
Director Richard Attenborough's Chaplin has been released by Lionsgate as a 15th anniversary special edition. The deluxe treatment can largely be attributed to star Robert Downey Jr.'s recent remarkable comeback after a number of years in which his career appeared to be doomed due to his self-inflicted demons. The film chronicles Charles Chaplin's career from his early days in London, where he grew up in poverty, through his rise in Vaudeville and his mercurial ascension as one of the cinema's earliest superstars. Chaplin was making millions when millions meant a lot of money. The film was a critical and box-office failure, but that doesn't negate its many merits. For one, director Attenborough specializes in making leisurely paced, visually splendid films, and this is no exception. In the age of cinematic bombast, the movie has a lyrical and relaxing quality to it, and the film is enhanced considerably by impressive production design and John Barry's wonderful score. The centerpiece is Downey's superb performance as the great comedian - it's an amazing achievement, as Downey captures the Master's every nuance. Although the film explores Chaplin's weaknesses such as his penchant of becoming involved with the wrong women, the script punts when it comes to his reputation as an ill-tempered ego maniac. Marlon Brando, who worked on Chaplin's last foray into filmmaking -the disastrous A Countess From Hong Kong
- said Chaplin was a bully who specialized in humiliating his own son in front of cast and crew. (Noticeably, this entire career misstep is never mentioned in the movie.). The story is rather unimaginatively bookended by having the elderly Chaplin discuss the events of his life with the editor of his autobiography (Anthony Hopkins). The main value of these scenes is to give Downey the opportunity to play the legend as an old man, which he pulls off very convincingly.Although occasionally pedantic, the movie is always a pleasure to watch. Equally enjoyable are the abundance of extra features. In a new and refreshingly candid documentary, Attenborough frankly discusses the movie's short-comings and attributes them to compromises he had to make in order to get funding. He says its the one film he'd really like the opportunity to remake. He's equally blunt about working with Downey, who was then in the midst of his abberent drug-induced behavior. Attenborough said he had never heard of Downey until he barged into his office and did an impromptu audition that left the director mesmerized. However, Attenborough said Downey's problems made it very challenging to direct him. It also becomes clear why the script skips over Chaplin's more controversial aspects: the Chaplin family was front and center in helping to put together this special edition.There are several mini featurettes along with a never-before-seen home movie of Chaplin cruising near Catalina on his yacht. In all, the film is an achievement that falls short, but like many of Attenborough's near-misses, it stands above the work of most other directors.
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