Chaplin (1992) User Reviews (222)

the triumphs and darker spots to the clown of film

[Quinoa1984 · 8/10 · 18 August 2008]

Chaplin isn't really a great bio-pic, but there are moments when Richard Attenborough's direction shines and it's consistently got an amazing Robert Downey Jr. performance as the title character. In fact, this is the kind of movie where the lead actor is so important that some of the major enjoyment and success of the film rests on him/her, oddly enough since it is a varied and superlative ensemble. There are moments when Attenborough's grandiosity gets in the way, and the moments that mark it as being somewhat conventional. What made me pleasantly surprised is what Attenborough *did* decide to show with Chaplin the private man; I thought that he would cut out much of the stuff with Chaplin's penchant for young (usually underage) girls, or some of the things regarding his mother, but most of the notorious facts are put in for good measure to counter-balance some of the pompous, though fascinating, scenes of "cinematic history."

Now as a fan of Chaplin's films and the given acknowledgment that he's one of the most talented comic actors and filmmakers of the 20th century, I do get a little choked up seeing that final clip-show at the Oscars of great clips from his most famous movies. And it's interesting always, from just a movie-buff stand-point, to watch the history behind Chaplin's transition from vaudeville to Max Senett's film company to slowly becoming an independent and world-famous auteur/star. But for the most part the writing and the direction make it entertaining just on that conventional, rise-fall-rise-fall-struggle-success-at-end story with maybe less drugs and a bit more politics than one might usually see (save for one fantastic scene when Chaplin and his brother and friends are sneaking around the film footage of The Kid from the brass who want it for tax purposes).

What makes it almost outstanding, however, is Downey Jr. He's funny as Chaplin when he needs to show how he was a great clown (i.e. the 'old-drunk' bit), he's melancholy when needed, he plays Chaplin as young, middle-aged, and old perfectly, and there's just the slightest details that keep you glued to the screen to see what he'll do next. It's not exactly a breakthrough role as he'd been doing some really good work intermittently in the late 80s, but this is the one that got him recognition by the likes of the Academy, and rightfully so. It's masterful work in a decent tribute to Sir Charles "Tramp" Chaplin, and should delight those looking for a good ensemble and a commanding lead performance.

Exceptional bio-pic

[funkyfry · 8/10 · 19 December 2002]

An attempt to make a film that is both honest and at the same time shamelessly self-serving about its (auto)biographical subject -- the legendary comedian/director Chaplin -- is pulled off with style. It's fun to see some modern talents inhabit the roles of screen's bygone icons (though in some cases a little less charicature would have been appreciated, especially in the case of Mabel Normand). Kline, surprisingly enough, makes a convincing Fairbanks. The rest of the cast is also well-picked -- X-Files fans should watch closely to catch quite a few glimpses of lower-billed David Duchovny as Chaplin's personal editor.

The direction is very good; I particularly liked how some of the straight scenes were filmed in a comic, surrealist style (Chaplin's escape from the police w/ his cans of "the Kid" reels is staged like a Keystone Komedy), while some of what might have been more comic elements are played straight (Chaplin's attempt to convince his brother that "The Tramp" cannot talk in a movie is both funny and serious, for example). Some of the (perhaps true to life) melodramatic elements are a bit overplayed (the bit with his mom was handled too heavily for my tastes, especially her shouting his name as she's dragged away by the asylum guards), but generally the film avoids genre cliches and "easy" scenes.

Great photography.

Downey Jr. fits the roll well, even rising to many of the physical challenges of the Chaplin mystique.

A superior film of its type, laced with self-conscious humor and self-reflection on the artistic temperament.

Nailed It

[gavin6942 · 8/10 · 27 April 2016]

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

What can I say? This was a really good film. It touched on all the highlights of Chaplin's career, both high and low. And even with the lengthy run time, I feel like it could have been even longer. It had such a great pace and was enjoyable to watch. And the cast. Wow. Milla Jovovich before she blew up? Diane Lane? Very good casting.

Robert Downey Jr nailed it. He has the look, he did the physical comedy, and that had to take a lot of training... the drunk routine, wow! I am so glad that Downey is back on top these days with "Iron Man" and other films. He had a rough patch for a while, but he is far better of an actor than he is generally given credit for.

A spectacular portrayal of the unseen life of Charlie Chaplin.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 10/10 · 10 August 2001]

Robert Downey Jr., first of all, portrays Chaplin with amazing accuracy. Some parts of this performance are particularly memorable, such as his invention of the famous tramp's walk just after having feverishly picked out the outfit, the astonishingly accurate depiction of Charlie as an old man, and of course, the many parts of the film that involve parts of his life where he was working on his own films. These are clearly some of the most interesting parts of the movie, if only because these films are how we know him, but it is at least as interesting the way that the film hints towards things that happened in Chaplin's life that inspired those films.

Very early in the film, we see a scene in which Charlie's mother is booed off the stage by an impatient crowd, so Charlie, who is a little boy at the time, gets on stage to do a song and dance of his own. He performs a song that is very similar to the one his mother performed, but he wins the audience's heart and they respond by tossing coins onto the stage for him. You can't help noticing how this corresponds with the constantly youthful look of the Tramp (in Modern Times, for example, Chaplin was in his late 40s but looked like a teenager), and the coins tossed on stage may have played a significant role in helping him realize that this could be a good way to make money.

Charlie moves to America to pursue his dream, and we see the landmark events that punctuated his dizzying rise to stardom. He goes to work briefly on stage and is then hired by Mack Sennett, a gigantic figure in film history, but is unsatisfied because of his own lack of control over his work. It should also be noted here that there is a scene where he is working with director Mabel Normand, who demands acting from him that he does not agree with, and with whom he clashes. In 1914, Chaplin starred in a 9 ½ minute film called Mabel's Busy Day, in which he plays the uncharacteristic role of the antagonist. The Mabel in this film is a sporting event vendor who turns down Charlie's amorous advances, after which Charlie proceeds to steal all of her products and hand them out to anyone standing nearby. Then in 1920, he starred in another short comedy called Mabel's Strange Predicament, in which Mabel is a woman who becomes locked out of her hotel room in her pajamas and ends up avoiding the drunken Charlie for the rest of the film. In both films, Charlie plays uncharacteristic roles, the most unenviable of which was in Mabel's Busy Day, which Mabel Norman directed.

Later in the film we see Charlie in a small diner just after having terminated his employment with Mack Sennett, and he meets Edna Purviance in a scene that is reminiscent of his romantic endeavors in such early films as Caught In A Cabaret and, even more so, The Immigrant, one of his most famous early films. There are dozens of other references to the development of his cinematic personality - such as his sudden realization of how to make the Tramp appear rich to the blind girl in City Lights without talking, as well as the dance of the dinner rolls, which Charlie performs here at a dinner at an expensive restaurant - but there is an even more significant portrayal of Charlie's beliefs and his values in this movie that are more recognizable as well as more memorable to people not familiar with his earlier and less known work.

Charlie Chaplin was one of many filmmakers' in the earlier times of the medium that resented and disapproved of the coming of sound to the movies. His Tramp remains one of the most recognized figures in the history of the cinema, and it is widely known that the Tramp is an almost entirely silent character, so it is necessary for a film about Chaplin's life to address this in some way, and it is done perfectly here. There is a scene where Charlie's brother is trying to convince him to add spoken dialogue into his films and Charlie refuses outright, giving a hilarious example of a Russian ballet dancer and saying, `The Tramp CAN'T talk. The minute he talks, he's dead.' This is a brilliant way to illustrate Charlie's fondness for the silent film, as well as his knowledge that no voice given to the Tramp would fit his character right. He was too well known to be changed so profoundly.

Charlie Chaplin created 81 movies in his lifetime, many of them timeless and truly memorable, and has made a significant impact on the filmmaking medium as well as on the world itself. He was a fascinating personality both onscreen and off, which is another element of his life that was necessarily and skillfully presented in this film, this time directly in the dialogue in what is probably the single most important line in the entire film – `If you want to understand me, watch my movies.' Chaplin's ever-present sympathy for the underprivileged is subtly but effectively portrayed as two poor people approach him on his way out of a nice restaurant, right at the beginning of the Great Depression, asking for his autograph. The elderly Charlie notes in retrospect that, `I wish they'd wanted my money.'

He is always aware throughout the film and throughout his life of the difficulties constantly facing poor people, and he wants to give these people not only an escape with his films, but hope for the future. There is a point in the film where Charlie has returned to Europe to see an old friend, and he learns on the train that she has died. He is then asked, `What'll we do, Charlie?' And his answer, although spoken under his breath almost in a whisper, rings louder than anything else in the film.

`Smile.'

Don't forget greats like Chaplin!

[a.kellett · 10/10 · 29 December 2000]

Thankyou to Richard Attenborough for this film. I watched it many a time and enjoyed both the biographical aspect and the comedic one but it has also increased my interest in silent comics of this great era.

The film begins by exploring the early life of Charlie, his Brother Sid and his Mother as they try to scrape a living. Thankfully Attenborough doesn't concentrate too much on this deprived part of Chaplin's life. However it does reveal interesting facts about Charlie that he never forgot during his rise to superstardom.

Although Chaplin is played by younger actors at the begining it is the arrival of Robert Downey Jnr which Chaplin fans will anticipate the most. He puts in an amazing performance, his London accent is excellent and ability to do slapstick even better he also really makes you believe that the great man is alive and on the screen again.

The film rightly concentrates on the private life of Chaplin and the development of the cinema. Whilst others may want to see the film concentrate on Chaplin's great pictures e.g The Kid, Gold Rush, and the Great dictator Attenborough blends the creation of these films into specific turning points in Charlie's life. For example Modern times is used to show Chaplin's sympathy towards victims of the wall street crash, as he knew what it was like to be extremely poor. His Jewish connections are also highlighted by the Great dictator, which shows his sensitivities to the European Jews were more at heart than just a making a heap of cash by having a laugh at Hitler's moustache and goose stepping troops.

The film doesn't get bogged down by Chaplin's hectic love life, as Dickie explores Charlie's political beliefs and how J Edgar Hoover was convinced of he was a communist party member. By doing so it shows how Hoover was one of the most twisted individuals to hold public office, with a dangerous obsession on peoples private lives and background.

The film does a good job in showing how important silent stars were and how we should not forget that they were the true greats when films were developing all the time from shorts to feature length, from silent to sound.

It's no Modern Times, but...

[Tetsel · 7/10 · 23 August 1999]

Robert Downey, Jr. gives another one of his splendid performances, Kevin Kline is perfectly cast as Fairbanks, and most of the direction is superb. However, the story hops around a few too many times, and the scenes with Anthony Hopkins are weak and obviously placed in order to clarify things to non- Chaplin fans who watch the film. Overall it is enjoyable, especially the parts when we see him creating his well- known masterpieces. Recommended especially for movie fans, and most especially for Chaplin fans.

A LEGENDARY MOVIE!!

[papanloveu · 9/10 · 28 July 2021]

"If you want to understand me, watch my movies."

I just saw this film for the first time. I had known very little about Charlie Chaplin's life, so this movie was quite illuminating.

I have always loved Robert Downey Jr.'s acting, but I have even more respect for his talent now.

In my opinion, the mediocre reviews this film received are totally undeserved. Whatever seems to be lacking in the somewhat meandering storyline is clearly offset by Downey's strong and heartfelt performance.

MASTERPIECE.

Intriguing look at Chaplin's life and early Hollywood

[bill_golden · 14 October 2002]

This is a great example of a movie I took a chance on one rainy Sunday at a theater in Charlotte, NC., and was highly rewarded with an intriguing look at the life of an early film star set against the background of early Hollywood. I had't heard much buzz about it and didn't really know much about Charlie Chaplin. Downey is amazing in his personification of Chaplin. If you want to expand your horizons and learn a little about the inside workings of the film industry from circa World War I thru the 50's, this award-winning movie comes highly recommended.

Robert Downey Jr good performance

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 23 January 2015]

Charlie Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr.) is recalling memories for his autobiography writer George Hayden (Anthony Hopkins). As a child in England, Chaplin witnesses his mother Hannah Chaplin (Geraldine Chaplin) chased off the stage by a crowd and he immediately takes over to be a big hit. The cops take him and his brother Syd (Paul Rhys) for the workhouse. His mother goes mad and he puts her in the sanitarium. He gets hired by music hall producer Fred Karno (John Thaw). He falls for fellow performer Hetty Kelly (Moira Kelly). Producer Mack Sennett (Dan Aykroyd) hires him for the new flickers. Hetty gets married and Charlie meets secretary Edna Purviance (Penelope Ann Miller) who he turns into his actress. He befriends Douglas Fairbanks (Kevin Kline) and marries 16 year old child actress Mildred Harris (Milla Jovovich) after she lies about being pregnant. He angers J. Edgar Hoover (Kevin Dunn) before he becomes the head of the FBI. He divorces Mildred and marries Lita Grey whom he hates. Then he marries Paulette Levy (Diane Lane) whom he loves. Joan Barry (Nancy Travis) has boobs and sues him falsely successfully for paternity. He marries Oona O'Neill (Moira Kelly again). He is accused of being a communist.

Richard Attenborough is trying to stuff so much of a big life into one movie. Sometimes things feel skipped over or given a limited treatment. Characters come in and out like a rotating door. The production value is sufficiently high but there isn't enough time to get it all in. The real story is understandably simplified and Attenborough tries to give it a surreal connected treatment... sometimes. There is no doubt that Robert Downey Jr. does an excellent job especially with the physical comedy. His performance is better than the film as a whole.

Near perfection for shear perfection.

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 13 May 2021]

You do not see Robert Downey Jr. When you watch him play Charlie Chaplin here. You are seeing the real deal, the ultimate compliment for big screen movie performances. It's not acting. It's real, and it's one of the most touching and heartbreaking and funny and sweet movie biographies ever conceived. From the story of the mental health issues of his mother (played by Charlie's real life daughter Geraldine Chaplin) to his early success as a music hall performer, heading to the United States where he finds true art in filmmaking in its early days, going on to his scandals, big screen full feature length movies, and finally legendary status that results in one of the most touching and tear-inducing tributes that an artist has ever received.

A truly believable performance by Dan aykroyd as comedy producing legend Mack Sennett and Marissa Tomei as funny girl Mabel Normand will have musical theater fans humming the overture from Jerry Herman's cult flop, and who better to play Douglas Fairbanks than Kevin Kline? This is the true story of the early movie industry, getting bigger and better as movies became larger than life. But more than just a view of the creation of an industry, it's the document of history, taking us through over eight decades and giving us a view into the passions and follies of one of the greatest filmmakers to ever be behind or in front of a camera.

The film utilizes both the real Chaplin and Downey in the little tramp costume, and as you see Downey transform himself, the emotions of a character still beloved over 100 years later will take over the viewer. Downey gets to recreate some of the greatest screen moments ever, and it's difficult to differentiate which is the real deal and which is the recreation. The stunning period detail is also glorious and the John Barry musical score triumphant, sweet and at times sad.

Then there's Anthony Hopkins as the biographer of Chaplin story, interviewing him throughout the film as it goes to various times in Chaplin's life. Hopkins' voice alone is rich enough to dominate every moment he's on screen, but he is wisely subtle and dignified, as if knowing that he's tying in modern film history with its past and proud to be a part of it. While many of the names of the various real life Hollywood personalities are forgotten today, their spirits seem to be looking over the film as if proud that a memory will be stirred of their work.

The direction of Richard Attenborough is of course superb, and this is just one example of why he could easily go from well known British character actor to a legendary film director for whose each film created great publicity simply because of his name. How appropriate did he be in charge of a film about a director and actor whose name alone created great publicity long before those film were released.

As we see Chaplin age, any desire to judge him for his scandalous romances and liaisons goes out the window because in spite of some of the lascivious things that he allegedly did, there is a sense of sweet innocence about him that defuses those indecencies. Watching the elderly Chaplin looking on in tears at the film clips being presented at the Academy Awards when he was given a special honor will have the audience in tears as well, and to mix tears with laughter makes this a film that will keep the memory of the little tramp alive and respected forever.

falls a little short of the mark

[valleyjohn · 7/10 · 9 May 2011]

When i was i was a kid and there was only three TV channels , i remember on weekends and school holidays they always used to show black and white comedies. Laurel & Hardy , Harold Lloyd and my personal favorites , Abbot & Costello were the main movies but there is no doubting who was the daddy of them all and that was Charlie Chaplin. Richard Attenborough directed this 1992 biographic movie of the famous Englishman and you would think , considering his previous movies that this would be fantastic. Sadly it falls a little short of the mark.

This is not a bad film at all it's just that i don't think it does Chaplin the justice he deserved. Robert Downy Jr is good , especially when he's playing a young Chaplin and the rest of the cast do a good job but i cant help but feel this film never really works. It's quite a dark film. Chaplin never looks happy and it's not until the end where he is excepting the Oscar do we really get to see a little bit what he was like on screen. The whole thing with him dictating to a biographer never works either and for me , this is Attenborough's biggest mistake. I would love to see someone have another go at making a film about Chaplin and give it a modern spin.

Finally , if you have never seen a Charlie Chaplin film , i urge you to do so. They are so much funnier than some of the so called comedies they churn out today.

Solid Gold Biopic

[Dock-Ock · 9/10 · 24 April 2002]

Chaplin works on many levels, because on the one hand it packs an entertaining epic in to two hours and thirty minutes, but doesn't fail to keep up your interest and comes over as being very enjoyable. Perhaps the problem is that, Chaplins life might not be the most suitable for a MOVIE,purely because his life was so eventful, and might have translated itself better as a TV Mini Series, but for getting the best out of what screen time available and still coming up with some very credible work, you must hand it over to Richard Attenborough and everyone at Carolco. For starters, the movie is simply beautiful to look at. The production design by Stuart Craig [these days of Harry Potter fame] is well tuned with the simply fantastic Cinematography by Sven Nykvist, and this is why the movie works so well, because at the more tedious intermissions the movie has to offer [and there are only a few], the movie is still interesting and prestine to watch. Just as good are Ellen Mirojnick and John Mollo's costumes designs, in fact, Chaplin offers a production so rich that at once i forgot that this was a period film, and felt transported back to the various different time zones the movie had to offer, and this is a good sign of a genius at work. Richard Attenborough did similar wonders with his Ghandi [1982], in my opinion he does it far more interestingly here. The real revelation of the movie is Robert Downey JR as Chaplin. I remember reading in a book entitled The Chaplin Encyclopedia, that hearts sank when an American assumed the role. Well, i cant really understand the kinetics behind this seeing that Chaplin spent 85% of his life away from England and was more of a worldwide Icon than a British spearhead, plus the fact that Americans ARE Good Actors, and Downey JR is one of the very finest. Charlie Chaplin himself was a couple of years before my time, but Downey JR is so fantastic, so realistic in the role that i didn't for one minute doubt the genius of the REAL Chaplin and in fact only became a fan of the little tramp after seeing this Biopic, as though the missing pieces of Chaplins life had come together to complete the jigsaw. Downey JR carries the movie, it is hard to imagine anyone else in the role, he is the right build, height and of simmilar looks and even nails the accent down. He even does The Little Tramp so covincingly that i think that Chaplin himself would have been forced to admit how good he is. This could prove to be Downey JR's best work on screen, but i hope like many other of his admirers that things do go right for him,and he gets on the right track and he is good to himself in future. On a side note i definitely think that Robert was worthy of the Academy Award for best actor for this, but the BAFTA is more than Justified. Hopefully his role in the adaption of Denis Potter's The Singing Detective will be good enough for him to be recognised by the Academy. The only down side to the characterisation awarded to Robert Downey JR in the title role is that the other characters pale in significance. Admitedly it is nice to see the famous faces such as Kevin Kline as Douglas Fairbanks, Diane Lane, Penelope Anne Miller and the Late great John Thaw in a heart rendering cameo as Chaplins great influence Fred Karno. But their characters are so limited that the come a cross as essential but perhaps slightly surplus. More impressive and important are the likes of Dan Ackroyd in an hillarious cameo as Mack Sennet, and the interstingly cast Geraldine Chaplin as her own grandmother Hanna. The fact that Hannah Caplin was mentally ill and the effects it had on Charlie Chaplin are nicely hinted at but in large glossed over. Anthony Hopkins is, it must be said, wasted as the fictional George Hayden. It is however reassuring to see Hopkins, and he himself 15 or so years earlier might have made a good Chaplin himself. Paul Rhys, too is kept in the dark, wich is unfortunate because the character he plays, Chaplins brother sid, was quite a big cog in the Chaplin works [see Modern Times-joke]. The nicest other part is that of Hetty Kelly/Oona Chaplin, Chaplins first and last loves, played by Moira Kelly. Kelly's presence adds a nice touch of grace and gentleness to the movie. Perhaps the real failing of the movie is, like this review, it tries to pack to much in, and like i said this would have been better done as a TV Mini series, or even two movies. These minor quibbles asides, Chaplin boasts an enjoyably epic screenplay by Diana Hawkins, William Boyd, Bryan Forbes and the Legendary William Goldman, based on David Robinsons Chaplin-His Life and Art and My Autobiography by Chaplin Himself. The movie is tightly directed and edited, includes nice trick photography and is very professionaly and well acted, particularly y Robert Downey JR but everyone ivolved does well, no matter the merits of the characterisations. It also has one of the most beautiful, moving musical scores by John Barry, perhaps his best, sadly over looked of scores. If you havent seen the movie, i hope this review helps whet your appetite, because it is a very worthwhile worth seeing movie..........

Downey Shines When Film Doesn't

[LostHighway101 · 7/10 · 27 September 2002]

Forget what you may have heard about 1992's "Chaplin" being a tabloid approach to the life of Charles Spencer Chaplin's. It does not focus on Chaplin's body of work as much as his turbulent personal and love life, which seems to turn most viewers off. Fortunately, its lead extracts nothing but magic from the material.

Robert Downey, Jr. gives an Acadamy Award-nominated performance with spot-on physical pantomime. He gracefully handles the difficult task of recreating Chaplin's physical art from his adolescence through his elderly exile in Switzerland. He plays him as a tortured bad boy and somehow makes the audience (like the film's director) turn a blind eye to the more scandalous aspects of Chaplin.

Downey skillfully navigates director Richard Attenborough's loving yet ambivalent handling of Chaplin's scandals. Attenborough was lucky enough to have also a brilliant score by John Barry and a brawny supporting cast, because the script is undeniably overwrought and unfocused. Downey Jr. makes a shallow handling of the Chaplin story into a highly-watchable experience. With a better script this could have been gold.

uninspired biography

[Doogie D · 5/10 · 5 May 1999]

Chaplin is a good subject and was a terrific filmmaker, but his story is not well served here. The movie limps along, Downey's excellent performance notwithstanding. The reporter as plot device -- well done in GANDHI -- is intrusive here, though it does show off Downey's range. One might hope for Kevin Brownlow to assemble a documentary for Chaplin even half as good as the stunning BUSTER KEATON: A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW. Until then, other sources will have to do.

Brilliant movie on a brilliant man

[grantss · 10/10 · 10 November 2014]

Brilliant movie on a brilliant man.

Charlie Chaplin is one of the greatest entertainers of all time, if not THE greatest. A visionary and pioneer in the art of motion pictures. Incredibly talented, he not only wrote, directed and starred in his movies, he also composed much of the scores.

This movie details his rise to fame, his trials and tribulations as a star, his inspirations and artistic genius, his relationships and scandals.

A superb telling of his life by Richard Attenborough.

The movie is made, however, by Robert Downey Jr's excellent performance as Chaplin. A great reminder of his acting talent (especially now that he mostly does comic book action-hero roles. Easier money, I guess...).

Great supporting cast: Kevin Kline as Douglas Fairbanks, Geraldine Chaplin (Chaplin's real-life daughter) playing Chaplin's mother (her real-life grandmother), Paul Rhys, John Thaw, Moira Kelly (in two roles), Anthony Hopkins, Dan Aykroyd, Marisa Tomei, Penelope Ann Miller, Diane Lane, James Woods and Milla Jovovich, plus David Duchovny in a minor role.

A must-see, not just because it is a biopic on one of history's greatest geniuses, but also for Robert Downey Jr's performance.

Misguided - with so much potential...

[prettymaryk · 8/10 · 20 May 2008]

The first thing one should know about "Chaplin" is that, paradoxically, very little of it has to do with Chaplin. Or, at least, it has more to do with the writers' illusions of him. The film claims to be based on "My Autobiography" and on "Chaplin: His Life and Art", by David Robinson. Having re-read the Autobiography before watching the film, it is clear to me that what the writers did was take basic incidents from the autobiography and embellish them with, I can only assume, parts of the Robinson book. What results is a series of scenes which were vaguely influenced by the facts, but so simplified and primitive that little of the original truth remains.

What the writers did not wish to acknowledge was that when Chaplin wrote vaguely or skimmed past certain parts of his life, he really didn't want anyone to delve into them - and the filmmakers did just that. "Chaplin" is not really about Charlie Chaplin, his work and films. It is simply ceaseless speculation on his personal life, but going on even more vaguely about it than the Autobiography.

I am well aware that almost every biopic focuses more on the personal life of a person than on their work. The problem is that most of the characters in "Chaplin" are so exaggerated and simplified that they become almost completely unbelievable - both as the real people AND as fictional characters. None of them are fully developed. This is not entirely the fault of the supporting cast (although it really is not that interesting): the fault lies with the screenplay, which is too often bland and melodramatic. This is especially obvious in the ridiculous subplot concerning the older Chaplin and his editor, which is the most pointless and badly done part of the film; even Hopkins cannot make the lines sound credible, which is all the proof anyone needs of their mediocrity. The film would have worked immeasurably better without these additions.

Many of the most interesting aspects and parts of Chaplin's life are completely ignored, oddly, with seemingly irrelevant or less important stories added in for little reason. One scene in particular is added only to insert a Chaplin-esquire physical comedy sequence which falls flat. The writers greatly accentuated everything to do with Hetty Kelly, even making the same actress play Oona O'Neill; the tried too hard to give him some kind of motive for his relationships, which only leads to more bias and speculation; and although I am by no means a Chaplin purist or even a very knowledgeable admirer, the blatant alterations on the actual history grated on my nerves.

All this being said, the film is certainly not a terrible one. Mainly, however, this is for one reason only, and that is - yes - Robert Downey Jr. himself. The praise he received for the role is by no means undeserved. As Chaplin he is perfect, managing to make the best out of his rather predictable lines, remaining interesting, believable, and in many parts moving. He has wonderful timing and intensity, and even looks the part (he could even do the roll dance). I really quite believed he was Chaplin. Even his performance, however, suffers greatly because of the lines - and the flash-forwards. I have no doubt that he could have played an even better Charlie Chaplin in a differently made film.

The greatest scene in "Chaplin", I think, is the opening credits: Charlie arrives in his dressing room, alone, sits, and begins to remove his make-up. The scene is in black and white, and there is no dialogue - only music. Every emotion is expressed simply through his eyes. If the rest of the film had been made like this, I actually think it could have been perfect. Either way, the lead performance is astounding, the music is beautiful, and though not very insightful or too true to history, this film is well worth watching.

Noisy Where It Should have Been Silent

[tedg · 14 June 2002]

Spoilers herein.

Chaplin is one of a half dozen masters who invented film and therefore changed humanity through their dreams. His genius was one of visual abstraction -- the humor was just a strategy to engage the audience. Orson Welles thought `City Lights' the most important film ever made, and by that I think he meant the first overtly self-referential master manipulation of the medium.

Making a film _about_ Chaplin has got to be one of the sweetest, most ineluctable notions ever. One would presume that such a film would use `Limelight' as a conceptual foundation. But since modern tastes want the raw personalities and since Chaplin's energies were at root sexual, one would expect a film that focuses on abstractions from sex as the mechanism for mass engagement. One would expect us to to see and understand how his energies in life were transmuted by much effort and reflection into related energies on the screen. One would expect us to see a similar struggle in the commitment from Attenborough.

Alas, Attenborough is more Sennett than Chaplin, someone with skills by exposure but who lacks passion and intellect. Instead, we get the self-reference from an unexpected source: Downey. He is not allowed to be a sexual being here, and incidentally neither are the women in the parade of pulchritude he thrashes through: they are here cast as demure, models, instead of directly animal beings -- more film beings than magnets for Chaplin's force.

Bereft of the sexual drive, Downey is forced to give us an internal being who progressively complicates his thoughts on their way to physicality, someone who eventually spends years on projects that previously took days. He already was seriously addicted to drugs here, and one can see the marvelous resonance of internal torture of Downey overlain on Chaplin. A double tragedy unfolds before our eyes (and amazingly behind Attenborough's back).

Attenborough does deal honestly with the personal vendetta of Hoover and the national embarrassment of the exile. But little context is established for how overt, intense and ambiguous was the struggle among Hollywood intellectuals and between them and the brutality of Washington and press associates. (We need to have a film about how close Hoover brought America to revolution.) What we get instead is a focus on his poverty, brother's jewishness and mother's insanity. I think that is a mistake.

Incidentally, one could spend time in worse ways than studying how the comic timing of films was invented, and how it has been both copied and evolved at the same time. Watch Chaplin. Then watch Downey doing Chaplin. He does an honest job, placing his Chaplin in Chaplin's time, not our own, Then watch Depp do Downey doing Chaplin (`Benny and Joon') but placed in the context of evolved notions of today's physical timing. Its more immediate, tighter.

A great story which could have been told better

[Primtime · 7/10 · 1 December 1998]

After watching some Chaplin films and reading books about Chaplin and silent films, I had been anticipating viewing this film for quite some time. I was surprised by the fact that no one did a bio-pic of Chaplin until 1992, which was 15 years after his death. One would have expected that a film would have been done about him a long time ago.

This film chronicles the entire life of Chaplin in chronological order and does an excellent job of doing so. The film has a promising start detailing Chaplin's poverty plagued childhood and then his rise to early stardom in Hollywood. However, this is where the greatness of the movie ends. In focusing on Chaplin's continuing stardom and the inclusion of talkies into the mainstream, this movie starts to fade and dwell only in Chaplin's personal life. Now I must admit there are some things of Chaplin's personal life that were of interest, but too much time was wasted on his various tyrsts and his unending appetite for young ladies.

Downey Jr. plays Chaplin to the best of his tremendous acting ability and was definitely merited in getting the academy award nomination. I felt that had this movie told more of Chaplin's dealings with Hollywood and how he went about creating his films, Downey Jr. would have undoubtedly won. The majority of the large name supporting cast (Kline, Tomei, Hopkins, etc.) played well into the film, although none of them really added that extra punch to the story. Perhaps with the exception of Geraldine Chaplin who did a wonderful job playing her own grandmother.

I was very touched by the end of the film in which we see Charlie in the dark at the 1975 Academy Awards wacthing clips of his movies. He was there to receive his lifetime achievement award and didn't believe that the audience would receive his films all that well. This showed that after all the years, all he really wanted was acceptance from America which had been his home for many years. This was also the first time he had been on American soil in over 20 years after being denied re-entry to the country on the basis that he was a communist. (Which were entirely false allegations.) This scene came close to perfectly ending the film, however, I felt that it should have shown Chaplin accepting the award.

I really enjoyed this film, but still believe that Attenborough could have done better had he not dwelled so much in Chaplin's personal relationships and more in his great career and the stories behind the story. I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys films.

7/10 stars.

The Best of All Hollywood Biographies

[director1616 · 9/10 · 17 January 2001]

"Chaplin" is an incredible film about one of the most incredible and controversial icons in Hollywood history. Robert Downey, Jr. is perfectly cast as Charlie Chaplin, and it is his brilliant performance which earned the Oscar nomination that he deserved and received. Richard Attenborough did a masterful job directing this masterpiece of biographical films. Two actors who are underrated for their performances are Paul Rhys (who played Sidney Chaplin), and Moria Kelly (who played both roles of Hetty Kelly and Oona O'Neil Chaplin). Kevin Kline is amazing as Douglas Fairbanks. There is one scene in the film where Douglas Fairbanks, knowing he is ill, looks at his reflection in a mirror on the bar. That is one example of the symbolism throughout the film by director Richard Attenborough that is astonishing. Robert Downey, Jr., plays off the great Sir Anthony Hopkins will ease. It is a wonder that with all of his personal problems in his relatively young life that Robert Downey, Jr. doesn't appreciate the opportunities that have been handed to him. There is incredible talent in this film - including a previously Oscar-winning director and actor (Attenborough and Hopkins, respectively) and a female actor who would win an Oscar for another film that same year of 1992 (Marisa Tomei). Even Dan Aykroyd is almost overlooked as silent comedy filmmaker Mack Sennett. Through "Chaplin" we realize that it was Mack Sennett who discovered Charlie Chaplin as well as other comedy greats at the beginning of Hollywood history. "Chaplin" is underrated and sometimes underappreciated, but it is a brilliant film that should be considered a classic when the time is appropriate.

Brilliant central performance that carries the film

[intelearts · 7/10 · 4 January 2008]

For my money this is one of the weakest of Attenborough's catalogues.

It does however have a HUGE saving grace in Robert Downey Jr who as Chaplin the star is simply brilliant.

I personally disliked the plot device of Anthony Hopkins as Chaplin's biographer and found it quite irritating.

While all performances are solid, especially Kevin Kline if you see the Thief of Bagdad then watch this he really does capture something of Fairbanks charisma and energy, the film is strangely the same: another girl (Literally often) appears, disappears etc; it became almost formulaic after a while.

Great in its scope, and the sets, attention to detail etc; are good - just didn't me the first time I saw it or this time - perhaps tellingly the real Chaplin with the Kid at the end is magnificent.

Definitely worth watching for Downey's tip-top performance as the young Chaplin, but the rest is too linear and flat to make a great film.

Chaplin

[jack_o_hasanov_imdb · 8/10 · 26 August 2021]

Robert Downey Jr. Made me believe he was indeed Chaplin. It was interesting to watch Chaplin's life.

Richard Attenborough's Chaplin

[LW-08854 · 6/10 · 23 December 2023]

A sweeping account of Chaplin's life and character. Each actor seemed perfectly cast for their role, not just Robert Downey Jr, but also Milla Jovovich, Kevin Dunn, Anthony Hopkins & Paul Rhys. Take the choice of Jovovich as Mildred Harris for instance, she only appears for a few scenes but Jovovich was well cast and age appropriate, nothing worse than seeing a 30 something pretending to be a teenager. Trying to reduce Chaplin's life into 2 hours or so of cinema was always going to leave certain characters a little short changed but I don't see how that could really be helped. The opening third of the film focuses on Chaplin's rise from poverty to breaking through into the film business. The rest covers various scandals that Chaplin encounters and the effect they have on him and his popularity. The film I should say is very well acted, it also touches at the end on some of the political controversy in his life and his complex love affairs.

Pooh on the critics...

[Blumanowar · 9/10 · 4 January 2021]

Pooh on the critics... Just watched again for third time and I've loved it every time. Brilliant acting from the best actor of my generation and story about the best actor of early Hollywood. What creeps the critics can be at times. Great job Downy and the writing and Directing were wonderful as well! Your a legend as well as Chaplin.

Emotional, wonderfully performed but ultimately flawed biopic

[Nobody-27 · 6/10 · 9 April 2013]

Very rarely does a film make me feel ambivalent as this one. I loved it for Chaplin, for performances, accurate scenes, but disliked it for its generally dark tone, missed details, and portrayal of Chaplin as an angry, distant ego-centric.

Seeing Robert Downey Jr. not only become Chaplin, but perform his stunts, little quirks and fun parts with Chaplin's gentleness and force sometimes, was a revelation.

I could go on and on about Robert Downey Jr. If you are like me, and have managed to not see this film all these years, then do so, if nothing, just for his performance. It is worth it.

Other actors were fantastic too, and there is quite a list of big names who performed wonderfully well: Kevin Klein (as Douglas Fairbanks), Anthony Hopkins, Marisa Tomei, Dan Aykroyd, Geraldine Chaplin (portraying her own grandmother, and what a portrayal!) etc.

Photography, sets, costumes, everything was just as one would hope it would be in a biopic about such an important artist as Chaplin. I also liked that many true events were accurately portrayed in the film. The attention to visual detail was refreshing. I wish I could say the same of the story though.

Anyone who read a bit about Chaplin knows what an emotional roller-coaster his life has been. Roller coaster means "highs" and "lows". In "Chaplin" we only get the "lows".

This is further made worse by the gimmicky addition of a biographer who is talking to Chaplin about his auto-biography just as we have immersed ourselves into the story, making sure that we are quickly kicked out of it. Whatever emotional connection is established is quickly lost. The only thing that scenes with the biographer do is retard the story and kill the film.

His rise from slums of east London to the king of Hollywood was incredible in reality, yet entirely missed in this film. He becomes a millionaire, just like that. In one scene he is a vaudeville actor working for peanuts, in another he comes to Hollywood and gets paid a little more, and then it seems that everyone knows about him, without our ever seeing how this happened. Even his homecoming, to a crowded station in London was scaled down: truth was that the euphoria was greater even than the one that Beatles experienced. Chaplin was so famous and well liked all over the world that even Hitler, who hated Chaplin, grew Chaplin's mustache to try and be more likable.

This overall dark story which intentionally skips the highs and focuses on lows, interrupted by fictitious biographer and old Chaplin (who add nothing of value anyway), is what makes this film fall flat on its face. It did not help that many important points in the film while accurate were portrayed with key pieces missing: for instance his theater performance was noticed by a Hollywood bigwig who proceeded to offer him a job via a telegram, with his name misspelled as "Charlie Chapman"... We never see any of that. He just gets a telegram with the job offer, out of the blue.

This is unfortunate, as one can easily find tons of material about Chaplin that could be added to show what a blast he had; and that it was all result of hard work, not dumb luck. Consider some of these facts:

• When he started shooting "The Great Dictator" British government told him that they would ban his film due to policy of appeasement. He shot the film anyway. By the time Chaplin finished it, Hitler attacked Britain, and appeasement policy was reversed, making Chaplin's film more than welcome over night.

• Chaplin was never really denied entrance to the US. He heard through his connections that Hoover was going after him in a big way, and that he would be persecuted more and more and that his work visa would not be renewed. He decided to just leave the country before anything more serious happened to him. While in NY, mere hours prior to his departure, he decided to phone Richard Avedon and offer to sit in his studio for a portrait. Avedon thought it was a prank call.

• The Lita Grey affair cost Chaplin in more ways than one. During the trial his hair turned entirely white, even though he was only 37 at the time.

• It is said that Chaplin owned the famous Culver hotel in Culver City, which he lost to John Wayne in a poker game, who then proceeded to donate it for good cause... Chaplin was not all work and obsession, he was a "clown" as he said it himself many times.

Those are just some examples, but the biggest missing point is failure to portray his rise from obscurity to stardom, and how great that was, especially in those times. Even more importantly, his influence on Hollywood and film as an art form, and his big heart was entirely missed. I don't even know if most viewers truly got it that it was him and Mary Pickford that founded United Artists Studio (D. Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith were just investors). He is almost portrayed as an egomaniac, when in reality, he was anything but that. He kept helping and even financially supporting fellow actors in Hollywood even after he moved to Switzerland, that's who Chaplin really was.

To portray the funniest, most creative filmmaker in such dark tones while missing to connect the dots is a failure of this film. His life was all about overcoming, yet from "Chaplin" we are led to believe that he was a miserable character.

Chaplin's life has a lot more to offer the viewer, and it would be a joy to see his life story given a better treatment on the big screen.

Disappointing

[rivera66_99 · 4/10 · 17 November 2001]

I heard so much about this movie before I saw it that I was really disappointed when the time came. The only reason I gave it a 4 out of 10 instead of a worse note, is Robert Downey's excellent job and - yeah, even Geraldine Chaplin's portrait of her insane grandmother. But the rest... how uninspired is everything! Hopkins' fictional character is absolutely pointless and pretentious, the portraits of Chaplin's women are so superficial as the historical content (the FBI in a 30years-permanent paranoic attitude towards the dangerous tramp, huuh...), all the details picked up from Chaplin's autobiography are or unreflected or badly told (p. g. the scene where the mother says: "If you only had brought me a cup of tea" - you DON'T understand this if you haven't read the book, and it loses all is meaning, 'cause there is a mix of guilt, fear and love in the feelings of the boy that is almost lost in the scene and the film)... No, this is not a well-told movie. Apart from the fact that it offers no deeper relection on what it IS to be a comedian or a genius. Boring. The best part is, without the shadow of a doubt, the final part where we have the possibility to see original Chaplin-film-scenes. That, indeed, could be a merit of this movie: it makes you want to watch the true Chaplin.