Speaking of career resurrections, Robert Downey Jr.'s is one of the most prominent in recent Hollywood history. One of the best Hollywood has to offer whenever he's invested in the role, I look at some of the highlights of his career (note: still have not seen 'Less than Zero')
5. Iron Man
In the final step of his 21st-Century career resurrection, Downey Jr completed his journey from drug addict, troublemaker and tabloid punchline to clean and redeemed talent through his entrance into the Marvel cinematic universe as Tony Stark. Paving the way for the world's most successful franchise with this debutant feature, it's easy to forget how good he is in the role by how perfectly he's cast. The fast-talking, charismatic and lovable multimillionaire playboy and weapons arms designer is right down Downey's speciality of wisecracking cool cats, and his chemistry with Gwenyth Paltrow as his secretary Pepper Potts is old-Hollywood style sizzling in the best possible way. What people often forget to praise though, is how brilliantly Stark's growing conscience is portrayed through his performance. Though technically rushed due to the limits of the runtime, Downey Jr. makes each step of his journey to redemption a convincing and powerful moment, and though it's easy to consider it all the work of the direction and costume design it's his great performance which makes Tony Stark's Iron Man worthy of our love and admiration.
4. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
A brilliant meta-noir comedy by Shane Black, this is a film chock full of dark laughs, violence, kissing and banging, and despite Black's superb direction, strong ensemble cast and great screenplay, would've fallen flat on its face had its most prominent structural element, a sense of meta self-awareness in the narration of the events, fallen flat through its lead performance. Downey Jr. is absolutely perfect as the 'hero' Harry Lockhart. The characters snarky comebacks and jibes are all perfectly done, as can be seen in the clips below. A not too complex character but Downey Jr. does what he does best, charismatic snark, delivers a great hilarious dynamic with co-stars Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan, and even adds a bit of poignancy when the more brutal violent moments come in.
3. Tropic Thunder
A hilarious performance that goes just for laughs throughout, and does so in the best possible fashion. Kirk Lazarus, a parody of the Hollywood tradition of method acting, is the highlight of an excellent comedy, and makes more of an impact than some of the more overtly crass/humorous performances like Jack Black's through his deadpan portrayal of a dedicated actor who never, ever breaks character. The tricksy aspect of his character donning the guise of an African American soldier never feels wrong or off-putting because Downey Jr. is just so funny and has such conviction in this comic role. Every stupid line is delivered with the utmost seriousness which is the brillaince of this performance, as Donwney Jr. resists the temptation to go overly broad and instead gives a sorta dramatically comedic performance that is one of my favourite comedy performances of recent years.
2. Captain America: Civil War
I'm still torn between putting Downey Jr. in lead or supporting for the year. That's about the only thing I'm on the fence with regard to his reprise of Tony Stark here though, since he is the MVP of the film and gives his best performance to date, in a role I had feared would gradually suffer from sequel-itis and Downey Jr. being bored with the role. Downey Jr. gives a great performance as Tony Stark who is now no longer the carefree playboy of days gone by (though he does have a brief reprise of that version of him in an ingeniously crafted 'flashback' scene). The sardonic side of him is now no logner a natural part of his character but a means of self-defense and denial of his own guilt and complicity in the disaster and damage the actions of The Avengers have inadvertently caused. Downey Jr.'s portrayal of the perennially haunted state of the man is heartbreaking as even for one who's on Captain America's side through thick and thin (i.e. me), I completely understood and sympathised, and even agreed on certain counts, with some of the points made on the Sokovia Accords.
Downey Jr., as per usual, brings his usual charm and likability in the role, particularly through the excellent chemistry he strikes up with Tom Holland's Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and his reprised warmth with Don Cheadle's Rhodey/War Machine, wherein the latter despite being once again shortchanged of things to do, gets quite the affecting final scene thanks to the kindred friendship the two have developed over the course of the series. In fact Downey Jr. plays off each character he interacts with brilliantly, but most worthy of mention is his dynamic with Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans). The two fully earn the vast range of emotions and conflicts between the two strong-minded individuals through each act of the film, culminating in a finale of incredible viscreal power, with Downey Jr.'s reaction to a particularly haunting revelation arguably the best-acted scene I've seen all year. I fully loved Civil War and Downey Jr.'s performance is probably one of the biggest reasons why.
1. Chaplin
Portraying Charlie Chaplin, the defining icon of the silent film era and one of the most recognizable personalities of film in general, was undoubtedly an incredible challenge for Downey Jr., and he was duly rewarded with an Oscar nomination for his efforts. I don't think it nearly gets enough praise as it should though. Downey Jr. disappears into the role of Chaplin, impossible as it may sound, to be fair there is already a striking resemblance intrinsically between the two in terms of appearance, but Downey Jr. goes beyond doing a mere imitation by his perfect recreation of Chaplin's the Tramp routine, his pratfalls, the mannerisms of his public persona, and when delving into the private life of Charlie Chaplin he never shies from the darker sides of the man (more to be added).
6. Zodiac
7. Wonder Boys
8. A Scanner Darkly
9. Natural Born Killers
10. The Judge
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