I'VE GOT A FEELING ABOUT THIS, TRIPP. I FEEL THIS KID IN MY BONES: Todd Gilchrist argues that Robert Downey Jr's best role was that of editor Terry Crabtree in The Wonder Boys -- "charming, relentless, dubiously motivated, and always hustling ... combining the altruistic and the predatory, the benevolent and the sinister, into one believable, compelling, and yes, even sympathetic package."
Top five Downey roles, in no order: Chaplin, Iron Man, Wonder Boys, Soapdish, Less Than Zero? Not that I don't love Tropic Thunder, but that was much more the writing than the performance, I thought, and I almost included his live-wire Black and White role or his subdued work in Good Night, and Good Luck or "Ally McBeal," a delicate role at his personal weakest point. But arbitrary numbers require choices, and that's my five.
I'd probably include his role in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in my top 5, b/c I really like that movie, although that may fall under your description of Tropic Thunder (writing over performance).
ReplyDeleteI don't know that Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is writing over performance -- for me the test is, can you imagine anyone doing what Downey did, better? I can't.
ReplyDeleteRobert Downey Jr. is one of my favorites. I'll have to think about a top 5 list, but Wonder Boys is way, way up there.
Yeah, I'm going with Kiss Kiss being in my top 5 as well. Drop Less Than Zero
ReplyDeleteI opened the comments just to tout KKBB to anyone who hadn't seen it. Downey's not exactly reaching or disappearing into the role or anything but he's doing that thing he does to a degree that makes the work almost emblematic of Downey-ness for me. It's also maybe the last time I liked Val Kilmer as much as I want to like Val Kilmer, and somehow I give Downey some of the credit for that. Also, "the native-american joe pesci" game is a great people watcher anytime you have time to kill in a public place.
ReplyDeleteGotta have both KKBB and, especially, Two Girls and a Guy on any essential Downey list, methinks.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I haven't seen KKBB. And I do like Two Girls and a Guy, but Black and White felt more emblematic of that period in his career to me.
ReplyDeleteYou absolutely need to see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, where Downey does the same sort of stuff he does so well in Iron Man (and less so in Holmes). And the Ally McBeal work has to go on the list because it did something exceedingly rare--made a program unjump the shark (which it promptly jumped again after he left with the ludicrous "Ally's secret child").
ReplyDeleteI love me some Soapdish, but RDjr, to me, was not enough of a standout to warrant top 5 inclusion. I would definately bump it for Heart and Souls, a surprisingly enjoyable high concept romantic comedy, which works only becuase of Downey's amazing talents as a physical comedian. It was filmed right after Chaplin and he had clearly mastered a new set of a skills.
ReplyDeleteI love Heart and Souls and he is soooo charming in it.
ReplyDeleteThat's such a sweet movie, but my favorite RDJ romcom is Chances Are. If for no other reason than I find all the leads appealing.
ReplyDeleteIt's uncanny, Lou. That was the exact comment i was going to post.
ReplyDeleteWatts, I also enjoy Chances Are, but I get creeped out if I think about it too much, particularly the ending.
I'm going with Two Guys and a Girl, Tropic Thunder (I disagree -- completely performance over writing; imagine Stiller in the same role), Weird Science, abstain, and abstain (having not seen Iron Man, Wonder Boys, or Chaplin). Two Guys and a Girl was the first time I really understood what people were saying about RDJ's talent. His performance got a bit showy, but in the kind of way when a basketball player goes completely playground -- just a pure demonstration of talent, arguably not in service of the production as a whole. Still, it made me go "wow." What strikes me, though, is that it had not occurred to me how many absolutely awful movies Downey has been in. Less than Zero is completely terrible, a tour de force for Jamie Gertz's tongue and nothing else. That movie is really amazing for its lack of redeeming qualities.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with including Two Girls and a Guy. On Tropic Thunder, can you tell me Johnny Depp couldn't have pulled that off?
ReplyDeleteJohnny Depp could have done something interesting with it. But that's not an argument that performance isn't crucial to that role. That's an argument that a gifted actor with superb timing and natural theatricality can do it. Mark Rylance could probably have done it too.
ReplyDelete(And I hate KKBB. I can't believe how many people like it. Ugh.)