Chaplin, Sir Richard Attenborough's biographical film of the life and times of the famous comic, is a little thin as a narrative, but it is so charmingly creative and ultimately moving that it's hard to worry about the deficits. Robert Downey Jr does an excellent job re-creating Chaplin's graceful slapstick and getting inside the silent-film superstar's head over the years of triumph, defeat, scandal, official persecution, exile and inner peace. A huge cast portray the allies, friends, lovers and enemies in Chaplin's life, including Moira Kelly as his final, long-time wife Oona, Kevin Kline as Douglas Fairbanks, Geraldine Chaplin as Charlie's mother and James Woods as a prosecutor working hard to nail Chaplin for anti-American sentiments. Attenborough declines to tell the story in a flat, linear way, employing such clever techniques as detailing one chapter in Chaplin's life as a silent comedy. The climactic scene set at an Oscar tribute for Chaplin will get the tears flowing. --Tom Keogh,