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CS Weekly Archive> DVD > 10/17/08
A Portrait of the Tramp as a Young Man
by jason Davis
Chaplin (15th Anniversary Edition)
Screenplay by William Boyd and Bryan Forbes and William Goldman
Story by Diana Hawkins
Based upon My Autobiography by Charles Chaplin and Chaplin: His Life and His Art by David Robinson
 
 
Chronicling the life of cinematic legend Charles Chaplin (Robert Downey, Jr.) from his first appearance as a child in London's music halls to his acceptance of an honorary Oscar after being exiled from the United States, Chaplin presents a singular insight into one of the industry's first geniuses. As director Richard Attenborough explains in one of three new featurettes exploring the film's development, the notion of framing the story with Chaplin's editor (Anthony Hopkins) critiquing the actor's biography was a late addition to the script. Despite this fact, the narrative device allows an aged Chaplin to look back on his life and criticize his own story in a fashion that lends the story a personal feel. The inspired choice to cast Moira Kelly as both the showgirl that got away at the beginning of his life and as his final wife, Oona O'Neil, lends sense of theatricality to the proceedings, while the protagonist's internal conflicts remind the viewer of the central dichotomy of his existence—a successful life built upon recalling the poverty that spawned him.
Chaplin (15th Anniversary Edition)
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated PG-13; 135 min.
$19.98
Buy it now
Jason Davis has been the DVD Manager for CS Weekly, a contributing editor for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and has written for Cinescape.com, MSN.com, and created the TV series Studio 13, which ran on Lorne Michaels' Burly TV network. He lives in the small space left over by his ever-expanding library of books, movies, and music.
Chaplin (15th Anniversary Edition)
courtesy Lionsgate Home Entertainment
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