Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin

Name: Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin
Director: Richard Schickel
Released: 2003

Richard Schickel

2003

Synopsis

Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.

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Recommendations

91
Entertainment Weekly
The nature of silent comedy was to elevate its heroes into myths, but after ''Charlie'' I can't wait to see Chaplin's movies again, this time to glimpse the man on the other side of the icon.
90
Variety
A throughly researched and extremely informative survey of the life and work of one of the great figures of world cinema, Richard Schickel's Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin is a must for lovers of cinema.
88
New York Post
More than a celebration of Chaplin's art; it is a thorough examination of what made this gifted artist, the world's first true celebrity, tick.
80
Village Voice
The hyperbole can be predictable and the clichés earnest, but by and large, Charlie is a serious, often illuminating, and unavoidably entertaining account of the creature Downey calls "the most endearing superhero you might ever want to watch."
80
The New York Times
Very much a writer's film: Mr. Schickel's elegant, occasionally knotty prose, read by Sidney Pollack, offers a clear, nuanced interpretation of the artist's work in relation to his life.
80
The Hollywood Reporter
Schickel's documentary, narrated by Sydney Pollack, breaks no new ground stylistically, but it is a well-organized, informative and inevitably entertaining portrait of the man who revolutionized screen comedy and who arguably became the first mass-market, commercialized media figure.
75
New York Daily News
Presents a refreshing appreciation of Chaplin's work in the context of comedy, political and social satire, and history itself.
60
TV Guide Magazine
Comprehensive and reverential.