I sometimes have to stretch things a little to work my love of movies (especially sci-fi) into an addiction and recovery themed blog, but this is not the case at all with what may be the blockbuster to beat this summer, Ironman.
Robert Downey Jr. plays the iron clad superhero of Marvel Comics fame and Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Terrence Howard play supporting roles… all seemed exceptionally cast for their specific roles. This is especially true in Mr. Downey’s case, as a real life recovering alcoholic/addict he can draw upon personal experience when relating to Ironman’s Achilles’ heel, alcoholism. This of course is the reason this movie has been on my radar since its inception.
The movie keeps things simple which is a good thing considered it was spawned from a comic book, however it makes it almost impossible to tell much about the story without spoiling the entire movie. Here is your 10 second synopsis: Man builds super cool combat armor. Man waxes floor with terrorists. Betrayal. Bad guy armors up and almost prevails. Super cool armor and changed man inside triumph.
There really is not much else to the story, but the characters are believable and developed in an extremely small amount of time. The special effects are so good that you don’t even realize that they are there. It’s fast, fun, and even though it is chocked full of partisan topics including the government, arms dealers, and terrorism- the film stays refreshingly apolitical.
One of the first frames of the movie is a close up of a glass of scotch and throughout the movie it becomes obvious that Tony Stark, Ironman’s inventor and public persona, is a hard drinker but this does not become a large part of the story. (See 1979 “Demon in a Bottle” comic book edition of Iron Man to the left)
Click “Read more” to continue…
Even though the director does not address alcoholism directly in this episode, it is apparent even in the trailer that Tony Stark aka Ironman may have issues with his drinking. Marvel production president Kevin Feige has said that alcoholism would likely be an issue in the sequel. ~ TDA
Personally, I am glad this episode stayed away from addressing alcoholism directly and stayed mostly lighthearted and exciting. Downey’s character plays the likable, flippant drinker, the same one almost every drinker (problem or not) thinks they have become as they are telling you how much they love you between blowing chunk episodes. I really had no desire to see him go to Less than Zero. It was enough for me to know that recovering addict/alcoholic Robert Downey Jr did a fabulous job. Mr. Downey gets a TDA salute, and I give the movie five stars.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Iron Man was practically flawless as a super hero flick; it drops pretty obvious hints that would indicate a sequel as well… i’m thinking the next one should be equally great
it starts with the glass of scotch and ends with as speech by downey in which he makes a brief reference to his character defects. There’s no heavy handed Addiction stuff, but the film is one big metaphor for recovery and redemption, wreckage and resiliency.
Ah, that was a movie after my own heart — geeky action flick with an icing of addiction. And as I said on my own blog, recovery looks hot on Robert Downey Jr.