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I am not familiar with the work of Charlie Chaplin but am aware of his reputation and his influence on American cinema history but my curiosity has definitely been piqued after viewing Chaplin, the lavishly mounted 1992 biopic that covers the life of the Little Tramp from his troubled childhood in England to his original Hollywood job working in Mack Sennett comedies to establishing his own identity as a movie star while dealing with disturbing family and romantic entanglements along the way, all the classic elements of the Hollywood biopic, but this one is worth investing in due to the extraordinary performance by Robert Downey Jr. in the title role.

The film attempts an original hook by framing the story around a now retired Charlie narrating his life story to a biographer (Anthony Hopkins), who doesn't just take dictation but attempts to find out what made Chaplin tick and determine when Chaplin is not giving him the entire story and the funny thing is, he doesn't have to do a lot of prodding to get the entire story either. The give and take between the star and his biographer serves as a fun launching pad for several of the episodes in Chaplin's career.

Director Richard Attenborough and screenwriters William Boyd, Bryan Forbes, and Williams Goldman have mounted a loving, respectful, and detailed look at the cinema legend...perhaps a little too detailed possibly because it was known the intended demographic here was not familiar with the subject (myself included) and wanted to provide as much insight as they could into this tragic clown.

The film becomes another in a large group of films over the last few decades that has driven home the point of how unhappy and screwed up people comedians and comedy actors are. Charlie's mother is presented here as mentally unstable (he is even assigned partial blame) and his relationship with his brother was stormy as well. Add the struggle for Hollywood respect, the multiple marriages, the advent of talkies (a subject humorously addressed in SIngin in the Rain is addressed a little more seriously here), and the Hollywood blacklisting of the 50's that destroyed so many Hollywood careers and you have a story that is engrossing but perhaps tries to cover too much ground.

There is no denying the power of Robert Downey Jr.'s performance in the title role...the actor looses himself in a role with such authenticity the performance did earn him his first Oscar nomination. Mention should also be made of Geraldine Chaplin playing her own grandmother and Kevin Kline in a flashy turn as Douglas Fairbanks.

The film is beautifully photographed and effectively recreates old Hollywood and as entertainment value, it has its merits but it does go on way too long.