Downey Is Great but Poor Direction Sinks the Overall Tone

Rating: Null/10 (7 May 2009)

Robert Downey Jr. does not disappoint. He brings his "A-Game" and then some as he delivers a compelling and layered performance. The rest of the cast (including Foxx) is remarkably average. That has more to do with the writing then the quality of the actors themselves. What hurts this film seems to be the director. You can feel his heavy hand on too many scenes. It's almost as if you can see him trying to find a way to make the film more compelling but failing at every turn. Strobe crazy lights filling the entire screen linked to the music, snot filled babies on TV, chaotic voices in surround sound trying to give the audience the feel of losing grip on reality...they all fail. Maybe the story itself didn't warrant feature length film consideration and drawing out the film didn't help matters. RDJr does make up for a lot of flaws and the stagnant pace but only to a certain degree.