By Paige Newman
msnbc.com contributor
“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” (2005)
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Warner Bros.
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Sometimes on screen, Robert Downey Jr. almost seems to be dancing. Never more so than in this film from Shane Black about a thief who’s mistaken for an actor and then trained to be a detective. As the befuddled, but ready-to-take-advantage-of-the-situation Harry Lockhart, Downey sees the plot (in which a couple of different murders suddenly feel connected) like a potboiler mystery. And as our narrator, he takes us through the story like a dime-store version of Sam Spade, who can’t quite keep the story straight in his head. One of Downey’s strengths is that he is human to a fault. It’s offscreen baggage that he makes work for him onscreen. The worst could (and usually does) happen to a Downey character, but he takes his beatings with a sarcastic quip and bounces back just the way you’d hope.
“Zodiac” (2007)
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Paramount Pictures
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If this movie had been released in November rather than March, chances are Downey would be one of the best supporting actor nominees for his role as grizzled San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery. As the star reporter who went after the Zodiac killer in print, we see his transformation from a confident showboater (full of booze and coke), who’s prepared to chase the story where ever it takes him, to a burned-out shell of a man who sees that the only way to escape the story is by hiding out (physically and emotionally). The film is complicated with an ending that makes you wonder about the real truth. And, as the audience ponders what the Gyllenhaal character is trying to feed us as far as who the “real” killer is, we find ourselves in a truly Paul Avery frame of mind.
“Wonder Boys” (2000)
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Paramount
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Even when he’s not the star of a film, Downey stands out. In this film about a burned-out English professor/novelist (Michael Douglas), Downey co-stars as Douglas’ agent, Terry Crabtree. From the moment we first see him with the woman (a transvestite) whom he picked up on the plane to his seduction of Douglas’ protégé (Tobey Maguire), Downey exudes the freedom that Douglas’ character so desperately wants but can’t quite get himself to grab. Nothing is going to stop Downey’s character from having fun and nothing’s going to shock him either. And it’s one of Downey’s strengths as an actor that he always seems to be reacting in the moment. In this overlooked gem of a film, Downey gets a chance to play — and we get to have fun watching him.
“Two Girls and a Guy” (1997)
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MuseFilm
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No director has seemed more enamored by Downey’s onscreen charm than James Toback, who guided the actor through both this film and “The Pick-Up Artist.” Toback understands the bad-boy charm that draws women (and men) to the actor. In this film, Downey plays Blake Allen, a man who gets caught cheating when his two girlfriends (Heather Graham and Natasha Gregson Wagner) accidently meet up and decide to confront him in his apartment. He literally tries to sing and dance his way out of the situation, and even when caught, he never stops trying to win at least one of them back. He’s so oddly likeable that you almost want him to succeed … almost.
“Chaplin” (1992)
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TriStar Pictures
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Downey received his only Oscar nomination for his role as Charlie Chaplin in this overwrought biopic from Richard Attenborough. Downey inhabits Chaplin’s mannerisms and physicality in an uncanny fashion, and in early scenes when he performs Chaplin’s pre-Hollywood vaudeville routines, you’ll feel like perhaps Downey was born in the wrong era because he was made for the stage. The film itself suffers from all the typical biopic problems (too long, too simplistic, too self-important), but Downey never stops trying to lift the mediocre material. It’s his unwillingness to be bogged down by the “epic” nature of the movie, ultimately, that makes this film worth watching.
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