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Sr.
Director Chris Smith and two-time Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr have triumphed with a 2022 Netflix documentary called Sr., a loving, funny, intimate, and deeply moving valentine to Robert Downey Jr's father, underground filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. To avoid confusion, for the rest of this review, the subject of the film will be referred to as Sr and his Oscar nominee son will be referred to as Jr.
I've seen a lot of celebrity documentaries over the last few years and it would be very easy for me to say that Smith and Jr. have thrown out all the rules regarding making documentaries, but depending on your point of your view, it might be more accurate to say that Smith and Jr have decided to incorporate all the rules of documentary filmmaking into this consistently fascinating look at a person this reviewer knew precious little about, despite the fact that Jr is one of my favorite actors.
For the uninitiated like myself, Sr made dozens of films dating back to the 1970;s, the most famous of which would probably be Putney Swope, The Harder They Come, and Greaser's Palace. He was a director who always worked outside of the studio system because he says all studios were interested in was making money and he didn't give a damn whether or not his movies made money. He makes it clear that the first studio film he made, Up the Academy was the worst experience of his career.
It's revealed almost immediately that Sr's health is in a serious state of decline and makes no bones about it as filming begins. As a matter of fact, we learn early on, while Chris and Jr are making their film, Sr is editing his own version of what they're doing from his home. It's insane the way the film jumps from the director talking to Sr and Jr directly, to the father and son talking to each other, to Jr talking directly to the camera about what he's trying to do here, to Sr leading us through his beloved Manhattan and providing stories from his endlessly fascinating life associated with every location.
There is some brave and squirm-worthy filmmaking going on here. There is one scene near the beginning of Sr's sightseeing where he calmly admits to being dizzy and everyone wants to stop for the day the second he says that but he claims to be OK. Sr is devoid of anything resembling ego and I was very moved by his admitting that he felt his allowing Jr to smoke weed as a child might have led his son into his future with addiction.
It was great getting a view of Sr from his family. Loved when asked how long she and Sr had been married, her reply was 1500 years. The footage of Elsie Downey, Jr's mother, had almost an ethereal quality to it and it's the only time during the film where we see Sr fighting tears. It should also be mentioned, that anyone who thinks they've never seen Jr, might want to take a look at the 1997 film Boogie Nights. Remember that scene where Mark Wahlberg and John C Reilly pressure that record producer to release their demo tapes? Guess who played that record producer.
Commentary is also provided by Norman Lear, the late Alan Arkin, Paul Thomas Anderson, and a very special appearance by Emmy and Tony Award winner Sean Hayes, A glorious look at a forgotten artist, and I can't lie, the final 10 minutes of this film destroyed
me.
Director Chris Smith and two-time Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr have triumphed with a 2022 Netflix documentary called Sr., a loving, funny, intimate, and deeply moving valentine to Robert Downey Jr's father, underground filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. To avoid confusion, for the rest of this review, the subject of the film will be referred to as Sr and his Oscar nominee son will be referred to as Jr.
I've seen a lot of celebrity documentaries over the last few years and it would be very easy for me to say that Smith and Jr. have thrown out all the rules regarding making documentaries, but depending on your point of your view, it might be more accurate to say that Smith and Jr have decided to incorporate all the rules of documentary filmmaking into this consistently fascinating look at a person this reviewer knew precious little about, despite the fact that Jr is one of my favorite actors.
For the uninitiated like myself, Sr made dozens of films dating back to the 1970;s, the most famous of which would probably be Putney Swope, The Harder They Come, and Greaser's Palace. He was a director who always worked outside of the studio system because he says all studios were interested in was making money and he didn't give a damn whether or not his movies made money. He makes it clear that the first studio film he made, Up the Academy was the worst experience of his career.
It's revealed almost immediately that Sr's health is in a serious state of decline and makes no bones about it as filming begins. As a matter of fact, we learn early on, while Chris and Jr are making their film, Sr is editing his own version of what they're doing from his home. It's insane the way the film jumps from the director talking to Sr and Jr directly, to the father and son talking to each other, to Jr talking directly to the camera about what he's trying to do here, to Sr leading us through his beloved Manhattan and providing stories from his endlessly fascinating life associated with every location.
There is some brave and squirm-worthy filmmaking going on here. There is one scene near the beginning of Sr's sightseeing where he calmly admits to being dizzy and everyone wants to stop for the day the second he says that but he claims to be OK. Sr is devoid of anything resembling ego and I was very moved by his admitting that he felt his allowing Jr to smoke weed as a child might have led his son into his future with addiction.
It was great getting a view of Sr from his family. Loved when asked how long she and Sr had been married, her reply was 1500 years. The footage of Elsie Downey, Jr's mother, had almost an ethereal quality to it and it's the only time during the film where we see Sr fighting tears. It should also be mentioned, that anyone who thinks they've never seen Jr, might want to take a look at the 1997 film Boogie Nights. Remember that scene where Mark Wahlberg and John C Reilly pressure that record producer to release their demo tapes? Guess who played that record producer.
Commentary is also provided by Norman Lear, the late Alan Arkin, Paul Thomas Anderson, and a very special appearance by Emmy and Tony Award winner Sean Hayes, A glorious look at a forgotten artist, and I can't lie, the final 10 minutes of this film destroyed
me.