In Contention

Tag: Robert Downey Jr.

  • SHORT TAKE: “Tropic Thunder” (***)

    DreamWorks SKG's Tropic ThunderI walked into “Tropic Thunder” expecting anything from a disaster to a bona fide comedic gem.  After all, the ubiquitous Ben Stiller’s work in front of the camera has evolved into a wretched sort of self-caricature, while his work behind the camera has yielded interesting failures and surprising successes with equal measure.

    His latest as director is somewhere in between, an ambitious vision born out of the actor/director’s consistent obsession with the hyperbole of character and cinema, and yet spread across a canvas somewhat lacking the scope it deserves.

    You know the general idea of the narrative, but the real power of the comedy comes from a solid ensemble, one that doesn’t necessarily work organically but certainly affords individual highlights.

    I wouldn’t say Robert Downey Jr. cranks out an “Oscar-level thing,” but he definitely shoots for the moon as Kirk Lazarus, the ambitious and “serious” Australian actor taking on the role of a quick-talking African American infantry grunt.  Stiller thankfully manages to relegate Jack Black’s antics to the periphery as the over-exposed former character actor gets the right laughs at the right times, while the director himself gets out of his own way for the most part.

    The real story of the film, however, and giving the performance that will be talked about perhaps more than any other this year (save, of course, for the late Heath Ledger’s work in “The Dark Knight”), is Tom Cruise in the role of film producer Les Grossman.

    Cruise’s first moments on screen — a video conference call sequence — leads one to believe he’ll be reaching throughout the performance, trying too hard to connect the dots of Stiller’s absurdist comedy.  But somewhere along the line, it becomes clear that Stiller knows how to best capture the performance: taking it over the top isn’t nearly enough.  You have to keep doing it over and over until it’s funny again, and that is where the director’s choice to linger on Cruise’s antics provides a showcase that demands side-splitting laughter.

    And bravo to Cruise for going there.  It’s probably the smartest thing he could do at this dicey time in his career.  And when he slowly dictates his opinion of action star Tugg Speedman’s career, it’s difficult to imagine he wasn’t thinking of himself in some small part.

  • A mark against Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Thunder’

    Paramount Pictures' Tropic ThunderI missed David Poland’s review of “Tropic Thunder,” which was published on Monday. Predictably, it’s a negative assessment. Poland hasn’t liked anything this summer beyond “Speed Racer” and “hancock” (which might say it all right there), but as usual, he goes to great lengths to make his point.

    The only real awards possibilities for the film have seemingly been for Robert Downey Jr., who gets the most laughs out of the trailers we’ve seen and has even earned some “O” word whispers in some quarters. But Poland seems to think the opportunity was wasted:

    Even Downey, who is so game and always looking for subtle touches, is stuck playing one note for much of the film. You know the note… it’s in every ad. He’s a white guy in black face. Okay… funny idea. But is it really funny for more than two acts of a movie? Isn’t the idea of writing such an inherently flawed character to push that character’s buttons in different and interesting ways through the entire film? Isn’t having an actor of Downey’s quality an opportunity to do something really interesting? Or are you, as an audience, satisfied by that same joke told 10 different ways?

    This, of course, flies in the face of Jeffrey Wells’s recent praise for the film and the performance, declaring Downey “amazing” and the performance an “Oscar-level thing.”

    I’ll make up my own mind when I see the film tomorrow night. I think it could go either way and has plenty to do with Ben Stiller’s handling of the material. I’ve found myself a fan of his work behind the camera more often than his work in front of it, but anything with Robert Downey Jr. in it seems to be gold this year, so we’ll see.

    Read the rest of Poland’s “Tropic Thunder” review here.

    In a separate take, John Campea of The Movie Blog had this to say on Downey’s portrayal out of Comic-Con:

    We all expected Robert Downey Jr. would knock it out of the park, and he doesn’t disappoint. He’s always working the character so much that even the most mundane lines that come out of his mouth make you smile. When he switches from “black” to Australian it’s pure gold.

    Perhaps Poland will be in the minority on this.

  • Jeff Wells says it’s Downey Jr. vs. Ledger

    Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic ThunderIn a review of Ben Stiller’s “Tropic Thunder” this afternoon, Jeffrey Wells has brought the “O” word into the conversation, specifically for Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as an actor who undergoes a pigmentation makeover to play an African American in the Vietnam film-within-the-film.

    Here’s what he has to say:

    It also feels to me like an Oscar-level thing for Downey. I know — who gives a hoot about Oscar nominations when a film is this funny? But Downey is amazing in this. This plus Iron Man — what a year for the guy. The Best Supporting Actor race is already down to Downey vs. Ledger.

    Obviously he forgets that Downey still has a role as Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez in Joe Wright’s “The Soloist,” due out later this year, which, judging by the subject matter and the fact that you’ve got the same studio pushing that film for awards fodder, may turn out to be his best shot at Academy recognition.

    Of course, we’ve been calling it the year of Downey Jr. around these parts for a few months now.  Not that it isn’t the most obvious aspect of the season.  And indeed, it is the story of the year.  Such a rise from the depths and into the spotlight as a star with impact yet again.

    I’m really looking forward to “Tropic Thunder,” as well as “The Soloist,” for that matter.  And I’d be lying if I didn’t say it had a lot to do with Downey Jr.

  • Favreau returns

    Jon FavreauSo according to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Jon Favreau is officially directing “Iron Man 2.”

    While I may not have been as gung-ho for “Iron Man” as most, I’m more than glad to see him come back. The first film, to me, felt like a good movie begging for a great sequel, and I think the same could be said of Favreau as a director. He’s been improving from picture to picture and I think “Iron Man 2” could be the moment where he really comes into his own as a filmmaker.

    With “Iron Man” currently the highest grossing film of the year (probably just for a few more days until “Crystal Skull” finally overtakes it) and Robert Downey Jr. undeniably becoming the A-lister we all knew he could (and should) be, it was simply ignorant of Marvel to think they could get away with anyone but Favreau in the director’s chair.

    I’m wondering when Marvel will start moving the pieces more definitively in place for the rest of the inevitable “Avengers” flick. Edgar Wright is the only confirmed director (for “Ant-Man,” which he’ll go into post-“Scott Pilgrim,” and which I’d guess Marvel will want to throw into “The Avengers” just for gluttony’s sake).  But for anything beyond “Iron Man 2,” I think we’ll be hearing announcements in the coming months, specifically at Comic-Con.

    On a side note, it looks like “The Incredible Hulk” will narrowly sneak past “Hulk” at the box office some time this month. I’m guessing that’s probably not good enough for another sequel

  • Movie stingers: do they work?

    Columbia Pictures\' Hancock

    If you saw “Hancock” over the weekend, you probably noticed a brief scene in the middle of the closing credits sequence featuring Mike Epps and meant as a funny punch for your theater exiting pleasure.

    It got me thinking about inter- and post-credit sequences — called “stingers” — and whether they ought to be eliminated altogether.  I ask this despite a history that includes a precious few great examples in films like “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and perhaps extending way back to the point-and-shoot moment of “The Great Train Robbery” that sent audiences screaming out of nickelodeons in 1903.

    Most of the time, these moments are random, useless and nothing more than a send-off treat (like in “Hancock”).  Other times, they might be an “Easter egg” for those who know to stick around, like Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury scene at the end of “Iron Man.” (There are also stingers after the credits of “WALL-E” and “Kung Fu Panda” this year.)

    More often, however, they have the potential to leave viewers who weren’t aware somewhat burned.  Or otherwise irritated — like Eric Snider of Cinematical, who dug into this issue in May.

    The question actually brings up another point, which is, are the closing credits of a film a part of the greater artistic whole?  Plenty of opening credit sequences provide direct commentary on a film and could therefore be argued part and parcel of the piece.  But with few exceptions, closing credits are a tacked-on necessity that even those featured in the roll wouldn’t consider any part of a directorial vision or collective filmmaking result — even if they are beautiful or interesting (i.e. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”).

    Then again, used to the right artistic effect, a subtle stinger might actually add to the overall canvas of a film.  Such is the case, I thnk, with the sound of children’s laughter after the credits of “Children of Men.”

    Typically, the existence of stingers just annoys me.  I’m more at ease with the inter-credits stuff.  As I was leaving “Hancock,” the Mike Epps scene kicked in and we all stopped and watch — har, har — off we go.  Fine, fair enough.  But if I miss something I realy want to see (like in “Iron Man”), it’s quite irritating.

    That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the scenes, however.  And I do have a few favorites.

    My top 5 movie stingers of all time after the jump! (spoilers obviously involved)

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  • Edward Norton and the not-so-jolly green giant

    What can be said of the fearless Edward Norton, who recently became an on-screen comic book hero?  I never understood his choice to take on the role of Bruce Banner, a.k.a. The Incredible Hulk.  And now, post-release, I’m still puzzled.

    He walked into a franchise that became a fast mess just five years ago.  And according to IMDb, he turned the role down back then. Given the actor’s commitment to characterization in his performances, it makes sense that he would turn the other cheek.  After all, so much of Bruce Banner, or at the least what audiences might want to see, is a technological creation. Unlike any of the characters in “Iron Man” or in the upcoming “The Dark Knight,” Mr. Norton doesn’t get to sport a good makeup job and put his true talents on display. He has to disappear all together.  It seems so unlike him.

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  • Bart’s ‘non-Oscar’ list

    Variety’s Peter Bart is spinning his Oscar wheels at his new blog. The post is a efw days old at this point, but his “non-Oscar list” is a cute little aside worth a look. He chalks actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Sarah Jessica Parker up as being on the list by sheer fact that they’re in bona fide hits (to say nothing of bias against the former and quality of the latter, of course).  But the move toward the unpopular is the point he’s driving at, and a look at the Oscar telecast’s ratings the last few years tells that tale clear enough.

    Here’s a glimpse at his logic:

    A generation ago, Oscar voters were tolerant of success — witness such best picture winners as “The Godfather,” “The Sting,” and, god forbid, “The Sound of Music.” However, a curious bipolar behavior has set in lately. Members of the Academy serve dutifully as professionals in the industry throughout the year, going about their tasks of producing, acting, editing, composing, etc. Then Oscar time sets in and they all think they’re members of a festival jury. “Art” is in and “commerce” is out.

    Lately, several important studio executives have met with the Academy to review these trends and also propose possible changes in the Oscar show. They advocated a tighter show, fewer awards and a greater stress on entertainment value.

    They hit a stone wall. The bipolar Academy is sticking to its ways.

    Read the rest here.

  • Not that you haven’t seen it yet…

    …but the “Tropic Thunder” red band trailer has arrived:

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VdDoy3LC_4

  • Bringing the truths of Skid Row to the masses

    The LA Times’ Steve Lopez is enjoying plenty of publicity this month for his latest book release, “The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship and the Redemptive Power of Music.” The book was drawn from a series of articles Lopez published three years ago in his “Points West” column in the Times about a Juliard-trained, homeless musician: Nathaniel Ayers.

    The story was cleverly recounted with amusing detail by Lopez at a book reading in Pasadena last month, which was when I first discovered that the film adaptation (releasing later this year and starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.) might actually do some good in forwarding the issue of mental disorder in the U.S., a stigmatized subject that deserves more focus.

    Lopez and “The Soloist” are featured on newsstands this week as Dana Goodyear writes the story and the issue up as a “Letter from Los Angeles” in the pages of The New Yorker. And I’m happy to see that the film may actually take these issues seriously, rather than setting them aside in favor of what would obviously be a heart-warming story.

    Here’s a look at the abstract (I wish the full article was online, but it’s the May 5 issue for those interested):

    Since the nineteen-eighties, L.A. has been known as the country’s homeless capital. Skid Row, a fifty-block area covering less than a square mile between the L.A. River and the office towers of downtown, has the city’s highest concentration of homeless people. A January, 2007, street count showed that there were just over five thousand homeless people living in the area, thirty-three hundred of them in shelters and nearly eighteen hundred on the street. Many suffer from mental illnesses, drug addiction, or both. Thousands are in recovery.

    Joe Wright, the British director of the new Ayers film, decided to take the job on one condition: that the film be made with real people from Skid Row…Open casting calls for extras in the movie were held on San Julian Street, and hundreds of people turned up. Two miles east of the real San Julian Street, a set was built. The Skid Row cast members were asked to play recognizable street types. Some days there were four hundred extras on the set, the vast majority of them from Skid Row.

    “The humanness of the story has given people a rooting interest in Nathaniel’s life, and to that extent it has destigmatized homelessness,” Lopez said. “But Nathaniel pays a heavier price. He has to deal with the attention.”

  • Opening day = $32.5 million

    You always expect the first summer blockbuster to do well but still…Yowsers. The sky is really the limit for this one now, especially with the great reviews. I have to say I’m really happy for Downey and “Iron Man” in general at this point. This is the start of an amazing year for him — a year he’s had coming for a long time.

    How far do people think this one can go? What does it tell us is in store for the next blockbusters on the way?

  • Chiwetel Ejiofor: an actor to watch

    As both Kris and I have suggested, this is likely to be the year of Robert Downey Jr. I’m pleased to see that he’s getting rave reviews for his work in “Iron Man,” and I’m glad to know that it isn’t a mess the way many comic book adaptations become (“Hulk” and “Batman & Robin,” certainly).

    But since we’re on the topic of new actors (or, in Mr. Downey’s case, veteran actors re-made) taking the scene, I wanted to draw attention to Chiwetel Ejiofor, who stars in the lead role of David Mamet’s new film “Redbelt.”

    Ejiofor easily makes my list of the finest actors working today. Recently, he starred in Alfonso Cuaron’s marvelous “Children of Men,” alongside Denzel Washington in Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster” and opposite Don Cheadle in “Talk to Me.” I thought his role in HBO’s under-appreciated drama “Tsunami: The Aftermath” was extraordinary.

    In “Redbelt,” Ejiofor plays the role of Mike Terry, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor who runs a struggling academy in Los Angeles. Michael Rechtshaffen of Hollywood Reporter describes Ejiofor as the “heart and soul of the film.” Today, Ejiofor appeared on NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross.

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  • SHORT TAKE: “Iron Man” (***1/2)

    Paramount Pictures\' Iron ManYou know, I find myself agreeing with many of the criticisms leveled at “Iron Man” in some quarters this week, rather than adhering to the admittedly overreaching raves pouring out of others.

    Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. are working from very thin material here, from a horribly green four-person screenwriting team. Set pieces seem injected without the benefit of a valid thought process that might have elevated the film within the genre, while character details are buried under the desire to go high gloss throughout. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with any of this, mind you, though it is a bit difficult to sit through the film without wondering what might have been, the “next level” hovering like a specter above.

    Yes, “Iron Man” is a hell of a time at the movies. Yes, the suit is really, really cool. And yes, Downey Jr.’s performance might stay at the top of a lot of personal favorites lists throughout the season. It’s like a glove; the actor fires on all cylinders, more a machine of dramatic purpose and performing genius than an actor playing the part. For comic fanatics (to avoid the pejorative “geeks”), hair-raising joy is in many a minor crevice. Terrence Howard will afford the line of the year in some respects — a simple toss to a crowd in the know but smooth as butter and damn near an afterthought all the same. Very cool.

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  • Could Robert Downey Jr. own this year?

    I remember when Robert Downey Jr. was cast in the role of Tony Stark for Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man,” my colleague David Poland made the shrewd observation that the former drug-addled wash-up was once again insurable.

    Not that I like putting such language to an actor I love so much, but the truth is, he hit one of the deepest downward spirals a star of his caliber could imagine, all of it following nearly 10 years of Brat Pack fame and a heralded Oscar nominated performance in 1992.

    But how about the turnaround? After the bad days of the mid-to-late 90s, and some major relapses in the first part of the new millennium, Downey finally turned the corner. A new role on one of television’s hottest shows wasn’t enough to get him bonded for Woody Allen’s “Melinda and Melinda” (which waited another four years to hit screens, with Will Ferrell ultimately taking the role), and there were pitfalls ahead still, but the upward curve seemed on the horizon somewhere, lurking.

    And here, eight years later, Downey is one day away from the release of one of the year’s most anticipated, likely highest-grossing films. Insured doesn’t say the half of it. Robert Downey Jr. is vindicated.

    But it doesn’t end with Tony Stark. The actor has two other very high profile performances landing in 2008, one of them set to be a laugh riot as he sports black face opposite Ben Stiller in “Tropic Thunder,” releasing in August. To cap off the year, Downey will star in Joe Wright’s “Atonement” follow-up, “The Soloist,” an awards season hopeful for DreamWorks SKG and perhaps a ride to a second Oscar nomination for the actor.

    I bring all this up because it is the story people should be writing, however much publicity would likely prefer to shine the light elsewhere. David Carr wrote a superlative piece that touched the finer points for The New York Times a few weeks ago, and my colleague Blake Rutherford offered his own thoughts in that light as well. But there isn’t enough patting on the back going around for my taste — sue me. An actor taking this big a stumble, looking like straight-to-DVD material if ever a career could be salvaged, and then pushing back with a creative and hard-working fury such as this — it is cause for celebration.

    When all is said and done, I have a feeling Robert Downey Jr. will be the toast of Hollywood in 2008. Entertainer of the year? Maybe. But it’s certainly the story of the year.

    Bravo. And here, here.

  • On Robert Downey Jr.

    It was only a few years ago that the inimitable Robert Downey Jr. was in our living rooms as a result of repeated drug arrests. I recall several instances where I felt as if he’d never recover. Fortunately, he did, and on May 2 Mr. Downey will appear as a comic book hero in “Iron Man.” Advance buzz for the film has been strong, and David Carr of The New York Times filed this profile in today’s paper of the actor once labeled “the best of his generation.”

    “Iron Man,” I suspect, will be an enjoyable film. Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard also star. Based on what I’ve seen thus far, it has some technical appeal that may catch voters come awards season. It’s this film – and the remaining work on Mr. Downey’s schedule in 2008 – that should finally complete his remarkable comeback.

    Later this summer, he stars as Kirk Lazarus in the film “Tropic Thunder” from Ben Stiller. Downey’s character, a method actor who undergoes a pigment alteration, has many people curious. And this fall he appears in Joe Wright’s latest film “The Soloist” opposite Jamie Foxx.

    Mr. Downey has only been nominated once for an Academy Award, in 1993, for his role as Charlie Chaplin in Richard Attenborough’s film “Chaplin.” He did not win. Since then, he’s appeared in more than thirty five films — some quite memorable (“Wonder Boys,” “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,” “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and “Zodiac,” especially). But none of these roles caught the attention of the awards community.

    Seven years ago this month, Mr. Downey was fired from his recurring guest role on “Ally McBeal.” This year, he’ll release three films, one of which, “The Soloist,” may earn him a second Oscar nomination. And his past seems to be well behind him. As he remarked to Mr. Carr, “I’m not in that sphere of activity anymore, and I don’t understand it any more than I understood 10 or 20 years ago that somehow everything was going to turn out O.K. from this lousy, exotic and dark triple chapter of my life. I swear to God I don’t even really understand that planet anymore.”

    I’m certainly grateful for that.

  • Steve Lopez and ‘The Soloist’

    I stopped by Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena yesterday evening to hear Steve Lopez read from his new book “The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship and the Redemptive Power of Music,” fully expecting a run-of-the-mill book release PR thing. As it turns out, Lopez is a quick-on-his-heels delight of a public speaker, engaging, never tedious and insightful when it really counts.

    And actually, there was no book reading, since Lopez had “lost his glasses for the third day in a row.” Instead, the LA Times columnist simply recounted, in maybe an hour’s time, his relationship with Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless resident of downtown Los Angeles and Skid Row — and a Juliard-trained musician all the same, whose story might be hard to believe, but can be captivating to the most cynical.

    L.A. residents are quite familiar with Lopez’s “Points West” column that runs daily in the Times. One of the few living, breathing journalistic spirits of considerable heft at the paper, it seems, Lopez turns a phrase and transforms the mundane into the captivating with a truly gifted sense of the English language. He has introduced readers to members of an entire scale of notoriety, always with equal aplomb, and his articles about Ayers lit a spark for many Angelenos.

    The articles, of course, have been adapted by screenwriter Susannah Grant into a film to be released later in the fall by DreamWorks. And Lopez’s book release this week is the beginning of a long road for Ayers’ story, one that will bubble to the surface on a much larger scale when the film lands in November. But what I learned listening to Lopez speak yesterday was how much of a concerted effort the book was for forwarding the issue of mental disorder in the United States, ailments that leave the public stigmatized, a dirty secret, of sorts, that the country seems unwilling to deal with in any up-front manner.

    There are those, I’m sure of it, who feel this project seems a grating experience on the horizon of the film awards season. I, too, had my doubts as to something this potentially schmaltz-laden hitting the screens. But my view has shifted somewhat after hearing Lopez tell it. However opportunistic it might seem to the jaded for the film industry to seize upon a story like this, I have to say, I believe a lot of good could come of it in the end. I look forward to Joe Wright’s work even more so with this added context.

    In the film, Lopez will be portrayed by Robert Downey Jr., while Jamie Foxx will portray Ayers. Oscar nominee Catherine Keener also stars.

    I recorded Lopez’s talk, which runs right at an hour. I thought it would be a great way to initiate a new multimedia aspect of In Contention, and so, I offer it to you now. It’s a funny and insightful 60 minutes from one of the industry’s best columnists.

    Have a listen:

    [display_podcast]

  • ‘The Soloist’ based on the new book?

    We all know Joe Wright’s upcoming film “The Soloist,” written by Susannah Grant, was taken from the articles of Steve Lopez a few years ago. In the film, Robert Downey Jr. will play the LA Times columnist while Jamie Foxx will star as Nathaniel Ayers, the homeless Julliard-trained musician who became the subject of Lopez’s writings.

    In most cases, as we learned twice over last year, screenplays based upon magazine or newspaper articles have a tough road to adapted screenplay consideration, given the general lack of narrative structure and the tendency to stray from the material presented in the actual articles. With that in mind, I figured “The Soloist” would be headed for original screenplay consideration in the fall. BUT…

    I came across this today. It seems Steve Lopez will be reading from his new book “The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship and the Redemptive Power of Music” in Pasadena on Friday. The book actually releases tomorrow in bookstores nationwide.

    So…now I wonder. The screenplay was obviously registered before the book was published, which puts it in the realm of original work, but these things can be tricky. And perhaps the book is simply a conglomeration of Lopez’s articles, in which case, nothing to see here. But we’ll have to keep our eye on it for now.

  • Downey = 2008

    I’m working on a piece about how much Robert Downey Jr. seems set to dominate the film landscape of 2008, but in the meantime (thanks to The Movie Blog):

  • OFF THE CARPET: 2008, a year in advance

    Another year, another set of wins…and another look ahead at what’s in store NEXT year.

    It’s never too late to take a long gander at what we might see dominating the film awards landscape in 365 days, and with that in mind, I’ve been doing my usual mulling over the possibilities for a few weeks to put together the sadly thorough examination of the 2008-09 award season that follows. Let’s get into it. There are some major considerations to take into account. right off the top.

    Like Leonardo DiCaprio, for instance, who is set to be the entertainer of the year. With performances in “Body of Lies” (Ridley Scott) and “Revolutionary Road” (Sam Mendes), DiCaprio is working with a duo of awards-proven talent this year. Perhaps that will work against him, much like it did in 2006, and no major Oscar success will come knocking. But we’ll wait until we see the performances. Each of them could be enticing.

    This year’s Best Picture Oscar victor Scott Rudin is back again, by the way, with “Revolutionary Road,” recently inherited by Paramount Vantage and probably one of the true “frontrunners” this far out that we could put our finger on. The only other film in Vantage’s arsenal is Edward Zwick’s “Defiance,” which could simply be a commercial success, but might find its way to multiple nods like “The Last Samurai” and “Blood Diamond” in recent years.

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