Sr. (2022)

While the world is familiar with Robert Downey Jr, his father is perhaps lesser known. This is both a shame and also the inevitable result of a career which was devoted almost entirely to subversion. Robert Downey Sr was one of the more bizarre filmmakers in history, who developed an absurdist style all of his own and this film explores not only the career of the man but, more importantly, his relationship with his now mega-famous son. 

If you familiar with Sr's work, you will know that there isn't much he takes seriously. To give some kind of idea, a rousing speech is delivered in 'Greaser's Palace', one of his more accomplished works. In this speech, the character being referred to has the name "Bingo Gas Station Motel Cheeseburger with a side of Aircraft Noise and You'll Be Gary Indiana." This name is mentioned multiple times with a matter of fact-ness as if his name was John. This gives immediate insight into the mind we're dealing with here. 

The documentary comes from the point of view of Jr trying to make sense of his Dad's career but also his Dad as a man. So it features all of the documentary tropes you'd expect to biographise someone's life - where they were born, time in the military (spent mostly in the stockades for causing too much trouble), early works etc. But an interesting angle here is Sr's insistence that he make his own project side by side with Jr's project, using the same crew. Downey Jr explains that this was a non-negotiable, meaning that in order to comply with the making of a documentary about himself, Sr insisted that he would also be allowed to direct his own stuff in the process. It's lovely to see someone his age still with vitality enough to want to sit in the editing bay and work on his art and a thoroughly nice touch of Jr to allow it to happen. 

There is an loose, easy, feel to most of this documentary which leads to a feeling of almost a Downey home movie. A distinct lack of convention is also obvious which, considering the subject matter, couldn't really be done any other way. Again, his weird and sometimes wonderful movie collection are great to see eulogised again and provide a timely reminder that not everything has to be 'by the book' to provide entertainment. Of all his films, I'd recommend starting with 1969 classic 'Putney Swope' - a scathing satire on corporate America through the vessel of an ad agency ran by revolutionary, black panther, types. It is insane but also very funny and is probably his most fully-realised film. Which isn't really saying much as, again, Downey Sr gives not one flying shit what you're "supposed to do" to make a film. It just so happens that this one came out semi-coherent. 

Downey Jr himself is an interesting piece in all of this. As we progress through the weird and colourful career of Sr you start to see Jr as collateral in one man's quest to live a life of absurdity and mayhem. Jr's first official credited role is in one of his Dad's films at the age of about 5 years old (his one line being "Do you have hair on your balls?") and, growing up in this environment, it becomes quite obvious why he suffered as he did with addictions and mental health issues for many years. Indeed he lets us in on a zoom call with his therapist on whom he still relies now - even though he's an academy award-winning superstar. Sr himself admits to giving his son drugs, amid the wild scene they were all caught up in, and expresses deep shame about doing so. The poor kid never really stood a chance. 

All of which makes for an interesting journey into a father/son relationship somehow trying to exist inside the strange cauldron of B-Movie Hollywood. Despite all of his successes and achievements there are many moments where Jr reverts back to being a little boy who just yearns for their Dad's approval and where this documentary really succeeds is its focus on family. You'd be hard pressed not to get in your feels when Jr and his son make a trip to New York for one last encounter with Sr, at this time ailing severely with Parkinson's Disease. The whole trip is set to Cat Stevens' 'On The Road To Find Out' and plays more like an actual film than a documentary. It's a very poignant moment in all of their lives.

Where it falls short is that there is no real catharsis. Sr is a difficult man to get through to, and you're left wondering if you really found anything out about what made the man tick. Oddly enough, the parts where he seems most alive and engaged are where he and Paul Thomas Anderson take a train trip together and film it. Indeed Jr even goes so far as to say "It's no secret that Paul is the son my father wishes he had, and they like to rub that in my face as often as they can". The way Sr lights up in that footage shows what you feel like is the real him. A devilish, exuberant, side that his all of his films speak (well, scream) to, but he keeps locked away for most of the documentary, particularly around his son. Don't get me wrong, he's still odd and funny, but you get the gnawing sense that there is more in there to be mined. 

Also, I would've loved to see a final version of what Sr had been working on with the crew. You get a few snippets but this is a man who let everything inside him come out through his art, so just allowing us ten minutes to see what he was thinking in his final days would have been a treat. Particularly as they set it up as such a large part of the story in the early part of the film. Oh, well. We can always go back to 'Putney Swope' for that, I suppose. 

That said, this film is an comprehensive, funny, if somewhat mournful look at a completely uncompromising career and the impact it had on not only him, or the entertainment industry, but the family that became by-products of such a career. The long, often untraceable, impact that father's can leave for their sons is questioned at great length here and even though there is undoubtedly a lot of love at the heart of this film, pain often lurks just beneath the surface. Rather than tread these waters lightly, it might've been impactful to submerge fully and find some answers. But, much like the work of Sr himself, it's probably best that we let things speak for themselves. The rest can be left to the viewer to decide. 

★★★☆☆

JB.