Review of Chaplin (2011) by Jeff B — 29 Oct 2009

A pretty decent biopic, but suffers a bit from the usual biopic problems:

1) attempting to imitate the person through the film outside of the normal narrative (a particularly glaring example of this is a madcap chase that occurs in the middle of the film when Charlie tries to keep his film away from his wife's lawyers who have come to take ownership of it after a divorce---they've confused the art with the artist.).

2) overacting (Robert Downey Jr., in particular, hams it up a bit in his role, though I suppose it was written a bit too dramatic, in the first place.).

3) poor casting (Anthony Hopkins' character is an entirely-fabricated person, used as a device for Charlie to reminisce--surely they could have cast someone a bit less intrusive... or, how about no one at all!).

Again, just a few complaints from an otherwise stellar movie. A bit long, but interesting nonetheless.