Chaplin: 15th Anniversary Edition

Reviewed by:
Eric Alt

The Skinny: In this 1993 film, Robert Downey Jr. played the legendary screen comedian alongside a slew of familiar faces both high profile (Anthony Hopkins, Dan Aykroyd, Marisa Tomei, James Woods, Diane Lane, Kevin Kline) and low (Moira Kelly. Milla Jovovich).

The Good: With 2008 being annointed Downey's "comeback" year, it's easy to forget that even in the midst of his addiction struggles the guy could out act anyone on the planet. Chaplin is kind of a standard biopic in a lot of ways, but Downey not only keeps the whole thing together, he manages to hold your interest even buried under some of the worst age make-up we've seen since elderly Emilio in Young Guns II.

The Bad: Again, the movie is good but kind of routine, and a lot of it can't help but stumble into melodramatic cheese. Luckily, Downey rescues it every time—and when he can't do it, the many, many gorgeous nude women on display do the job.

Best Extra: The anniversary DVD contains some lost home movie footage of Charlie Chaplin on a boating vacation. It's like watching your grandfather mug for the camera, only Chaplin's much better at it.

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