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.
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.