Robert Downey Jr. has earned rave reviews for his performance in “Iron Man,” and justifiably so. It wasn’t that long ago that Downey was making headlines for all the wrong reasons, namely a substance abuse problem that threatened to end his career and, worst-case scenario, take his life. He was an unlikely choice to play Tony Stark, the weapons manufacturer who undergoes a change of heart, builds a protective iron suit and vows to save the world from nefarious evildoers, but he’s always been a good actor, and I wasn’t surprised that he delivered a humorous and touching performance.
The actor I really began thinking about while watching “Iron Man” is Jon Favreau, who directed the film and has a bit part as Hogan, Stark’s chauffeur. Favreau first gained notice as the lovelorn comedian who can’t get over his ex-girlfriend in the 1996 hipster indie-comedy “Swingers,” which also helped launch the career of that loudmouth, Vince Vaughn, and the swing music craze of the late 1990s. A lot of my friends love “Swingers,” and I’m fond of it as well. It’s small, but insightful, with memorable catchphrases, such as “You’re so money!” and “Vegas, baby, Vegas!” But I never really expected great things from Favreau, who penned the “Swingers” screenplay and is an engaging, if limited, actor. If anything, I thought that maybe, if he was lucky, he would write another successful hipster indie-comedy that college students would embrace, quote until they were blue in the face and remember fondly well into adulthood. Another movie kind of like “Swingers.”
Instead, Favreau transformed himself into one of the best directors of high-concept movies for kids and teenagers. His first movie was “Elf,” which had the potential to be one of the dumbest movies ever — Will Farrell as a grown man who thinks he’s an elf? Please! — but is so hilarious and goofy that even a cynic like me can enjoy it. I haven’t seen Favreau’s second film, “Zathura,” the big-screen adaptation of the Chris Van Allsburg (“Jumanji”) children’s book, but after watching “Iron Man” I moved it into my Netflix queue. It’s clear Favreau knows what he’s doing.
“Iron Man” isn’t a movie for little kids, but I would think slightly older kids and teenagers would love it, and it’s crammed with enough wit and gee-whiz special effects and action sequences that adults will love it, too. In other words, Favreau has succeeded in making a movie for almost everyone, and that’s a pretty rare achievement. I don’t want to stick “Iron Man” with the dreaded “family movie” label, but this is a good family movie. It’s fun and exciting and doesn’t condescend or pander to its audience. Robert Downey Jr. deserves a lot of credit for its success, but so does that hapless schlub from “Swingers,” Jon Favreau.
Got a favorite comic book movie? Or comic?
My favorite comic book movie is more of a graphic novel movie: “Sin City,” Robert Rodriguez’s ultra-violent, totally depraved big screen adaptation of the cult Frank Miller graphic novel. Runner-up: “Persepolis,” based on a graphic novel that depicts a young Iranian girl’s coming of age during and after the fall of the Shah.
I’ve found that watching movies is a good way to fill in the considerable gaps in my knowledge of history. In the past couple of months, I’ve watched several films that had me surfing the web when they were over, looking for more information. They are:
“I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang” — This 1932 film tells the true story of Robert E. Burns, who finds himself imprisoned on bogus-robbery charges and forced to work a Southern chain gang. He escapes to Chicago, where he becomes a successful businessman. “I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang” was quite controversial at the time of its release. Based on Burns’ memoirs, it aimed to expose the cruelty of the chain gang system, but it’s still pretty compelling stuff today.
“Talk to Me” — I’d never heard of Petey Greene, the ex-con and addict who became one of Washington, D.C.’s most popular talk radio and television personalities, and is the subject of this 2007 film. Don Cheadle portrays Greene in the film, which does an excellent job of capturing the racial and social dynamics of the 1960s and 1970s — Greene is shown helping bring calm to the streets of D.C. after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. — but is also a pretty funny film. About 10,000 people attended Greene’s funeral, and you can find clips of him on YouTube.
“Machuca” — This is a fictional film that depicts life in Chile right before the military coup that toppled the country’s democratically-elected president, Salvador Allende, and led to the almost two-decade rule of brutal military dictator Augusto Pinochet. I knew a little bit about Pinochet and Allende going into the film, but the movie really brings this period to life and makes you comprehend the tragedy of the Pinochet reign. “Machuca” depicts the friendship between an upper-class boy and a poor boy from a nearby shantytown who is briefly allowed to attend a private Catholic school for free.
