Iron Man

I've been watching Robert Downey, Jr. with great interest for many years, always intrigued by his ability to be both a movie star and an actor.

By "Movie star" I mean he has that indefinable quality that compels you to want to watch whatever he does on film, like Gary Cooper or John Wayne. Those titans were "stars" in every good sense of the word, but they were not actor's actors. When John Wayne played a character he was John Wayne, no matter what his name was in the film. [My favorite John Wayne film is The Quiet Man, however, and he was more of a character then, and deserves full credit for it.]

Then there are actor's actors like Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. They become their characters.

Robert Downey Jr., [RD for short, because I don't want to keep typing that long name]  has staged a renaissance for himself in Iron Man, and it's impressive. He manages to combine elements of his usual wisecracking, self-deprecatory characters [see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang for a terrific, funny view of that] with the action hero genre, and he makes it work.

Tony Stark, the character RD plays in Iron Man, is a fascinating combination of Hugh Hefner and Bill Gates - a playboy genius, a high tech weapons designer. He goes to Afghanistan to show the military a nifty new missile and gets kidnapped. He builds the iron suit to escape. I didn't like Tony Start, but I didn't dislike him, either. I fully expected to dislike him, because I knew ahead of time the basic plot, and I was wary of the political references.

It's interesting to see how RD shakes up the typical action here stereotype. Like Batman's Bruce Wayne, Stark is a millionaire. He's not that smooth though - several times in the film he is seen inventing his iron man suit and glitches cause him to get bounced around and break things a lot, looking very un-cool. He also has embarrassing encounters with former lovers whose names he can't recall. 

The one thing I didn't like about the Stark character is that he's not very likable. He does nothing to be likable. He's just on his little ego tripping ride, really. He talks about a change of heart borne out of his captivity, but we don't see much of that. He's still rude to his assistant, and thoughtless when it comes to his old friends. I don't think genius or money are good substitutes for manners.

Gwyneth Paltrow is a suprise. I am amazed she took on the girl sidekick part in this film. She is such an excellent actress that she nearly yanks the film away from RD when she's onscreen. The one thing I hated, though, was her wardrobe, particularly the final action sequence in which she is wearing 3 inch spike heels. I kept waiting for her to fall on her ass, because in a life-threatening situation with a giant robot, any normal woman WOULD fall right down in those idiotic shoes. I'd like to see her in a pair of Crocs, acting more like a Princess Fiona than a bimbo.

Jeff Bridges has always been a favorite actor of mine, and he gets the chance to play a complex role here. I won't spoil it, but it's a doozy. He is always fun to watch. Here he is playing against type, in that his character is not in any way easygoing.

My children loved the film, of course. There are lots of cool effects and they didn't notice the subtle political messages.

I hate politics so I won't get into a rant here, but the subtle message seems to be that in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, the American soldiers who use the big bad weapons are the bad guys. Since I have a brother actually in Iraq at the moment, I resent that implication. However, given the liberal mindset of Hollyweird, it doesn't surprise me.

I sensed when I was watching Iron Man that RD has a tiger by the tail, and he's going to hang on for dear life and probably have fun doing it. I fully expect to see several sequels. I certainly hope they don't make the military out to be horrible, though, and exploit that angle. Besides being offensive to me, it's trite and unimaginative.

My favorite RD movie will probably always be Chaplin, and I will show my kids that film again one day, so they can see a full portrait of a real man.

Comments

[Amy (Alex's Mommy)]

I unexpectedly LOVED Iron Man! You are right....RD can do anything. When the movie was over I could have sat there for 2 more hours.