Chaplin

Really great film. really enjoyable, very well acted and the manner of storytelling really worked. Very sweet that Charlie Chaplin's real-life daughter played Chaplin's mother in the film. She spoke very highly of Downey Jr in his role, and I absolutely agree, but what was very touching is how she recalls (in the special features) that when she first came on set, once Chaplin was in California, as Downey Jr walked towards her in character, it was like seeing her father again! -really rather special this film. Watch it and enjoy.

Robert Downey Jr was fantastic. A modern actor having to do some amazing visual comedy. You could not have put anyone else in that role!

Very intriguing to watch. A terrific story.

We loved this film, it was funny, sad and beautifully filmed. Robert Downey Jr is the perfect person to play Chaplin, it makes you really feel as if your part of his life. It shows him as being way before his time in his film work and how he could read what people wanted to see.

Fantastic, this film is really worth watching.

This biopic of one of the real geniuses of cinema is certainly worthy of the great man whose name is the title. Some may complain that certain parts are rushed and that at times it almost seems as if the makers try to fit in too much of Chaplin's life and therefore the story is spread quite thin, but it would simply be impossible to fit more than half a century of film making into around 2 and a half hours. In truth, it is very fitting that director, Richard Attenborough, chose to shape this film around Chaplin's own autobiography, to the extent of creating a fictional narrative set in a meeting between Chaplin and his fictitious editor. The storyline that flows throughout the film shows how a young man from the cobbled streets of London became not only the biggest silent film star, and the most famous person in the world at that time, but also one of the greatest pioneers of the movie industry when it was looked down upon by it's theatrical counterparts.

Robert Downey Jr. in the title role certainly gives the performance of a lifetime, blending the young mans struggle with his love life and his mother's health, portrayed fantastically and emotionally by Charlies own daughter Geraldine; and the aging and obviously haunted Chaplin in his later years. It is simply impossible to take your eyes of the screen whenever he is in shot, the way that he shows the balance of being the world's biggest film star and the hurt and pressure surrounding Chaplin behind the cameras is the work of an actor at the top of his game, and a performance befitting the professional nature of one such as Downey Jr. Though he has had his problems throughout his career, whenever he has been given a part to play he has always stolen the show. At no point in this film do you feel you are watching a man almost 80 years Chaplin's junior, his performance is such that you would think the pair could be brothers. It is a great acknowledgement to Chaplin that Downey Jr puts so much, both physically and mentally into this performance.

It is a rare thing when all parts of a film come together such as this, usually there is at least one weak link, be it the lighting, direction, supporting cast or even the script, but having seen this film repeatedly I still struggle to find fault with any part of its production, it is a truly fascinating story about one of this medias most fascinating performers and I can think of no greater tribute.