IMDb RATING
7.2/10
3.8K
YOUR RATING
Follow the tender but appropriately irreverent account of the life and career of Robert Downey Sr., the fearless and visionary American director who set the standard for countercultural come... Read allFollow the tender but appropriately irreverent account of the life and career of Robert Downey Sr., the fearless and visionary American director who set the standard for countercultural comedy in the 1960s and 1970s.Follow the tender but appropriately irreverent account of the life and career of Robert Downey Sr., the fearless and visionary American director who set the standard for countercultural comedy in the 1960s and 1970s.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 8 nominations total
Paul Thomas Anderson
- Self
- (archive footage)
Allan Arbus
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Dick Cavett
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Patrick Dempsey
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Elsie Downey
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Antonio Fargas
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Allen Garfield
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Featured reviews
R. I. P. Robert Downey, Senior (1936-2021)
This documentary has good pacing, camerawork and interesting dialog.
Robert Downey, Senior was an original American indie filmmaker and director. From way back in the 1940's. He was a revolutionary. He was a genius.
The man has a fairly substantial portfolio. Both my wife and myself have been wondering for quite a while just when a documentary about Senior would be made. Here it is. Finally.
Senior the documentary gets us into the man's head. We see his strange take on life and how it influenced his creative processees. We see how any kind of feedback, whether positive or negative, was treated like water running off a duck's back.
This documentary has good pacing, camerawork and interesting dialog.
Robert Downey, Senior was an original American indie filmmaker and director. From way back in the 1940's. He was a revolutionary. He was a genius.
The man has a fairly substantial portfolio. Both my wife and myself have been wondering for quite a while just when a documentary about Senior would be made. Here it is. Finally.
Senior the documentary gets us into the man's head. We see his strange take on life and how it influenced his creative processees. We see how any kind of feedback, whether positive or negative, was treated like water running off a duck's back.
I remember like it was yesterday the day that I discovered Robert Downey Jr. On film. I was only 15 years old when I saw Iron Man 2. I remember I turned to my friend and said, "who is that?" She knew who he was and had already been a fan of his. Since that day, I became an aficionado when it came to his films. I found his backstory to be very interesting and how although he had endured a lot of hardship he came back with a vengeance and turned out to be the highest paid actor and our beloved Tony Stark/Iron man. This film binds together the love of him and and his father. It's a must watch! :)
I don't know much about Robert Downey Sr. As I didn't follow his work. But I have watched Robert Downey Jr since he was a teenager. With all of the trouble that he ended up going through, I think it's amazing that he and his father retained a wonderfully close relationship. This is a loving, caring tribute from father to son and son to father. I love that Cat Stevens music was used in the movie. It was wonderful to see Jr's son involved , especially toward the end of Sr's life. I do t know what I expected, but I really enjoyed this amazing documentary. Thank you for sharing your personal life love and sadness with us.
Time is finite, archives are what one makes of them, and child parent relationships vary by example. The Downeys exemplify this. And kudos to Jr for making "Sr," because it is a gem.
The forest view that RDJ provides of his father in his twilight years is as much a love language and path to understanding as it is a finessed effort to balance and setting the bar of creativity and life's imperfections for his own children.
Plus it's in black & white. Mostly. The self-aware choice of b & w elevates the subject imo, and truly provides a greater measure of reverence and artistry.
This documentary is the best example of following your art, following your heart, and never stop pursuing the next opportunity. Film, family, self-reflection.
The forest view that RDJ provides of his father in his twilight years is as much a love language and path to understanding as it is a finessed effort to balance and setting the bar of creativity and life's imperfections for his own children.
Plus it's in black & white. Mostly. The self-aware choice of b & w elevates the subject imo, and truly provides a greater measure of reverence and artistry.
This documentary is the best example of following your art, following your heart, and never stop pursuing the next opportunity. Film, family, self-reflection.
10ourelbi
I'd never seen any of Sr's films, nor knew anything about him. But this documentary was done with such love and pride about his work, it has me now searching for them, as well as some of the music on them (Charley Cuva, for one). I loved watching and listening to him - his smile and eyes as an older man, lit up the screen and he always sounded so positive and friendly - it made me wish I'd known him. He seemed like a really lovely man - someone you'd want to see and talk with every day. I couldn't help but compare his looks with Michael Caine (but that might just be me). I think they did a lovely job - and I love the black and white too.
Did you know
- TriviaIn a 2022 interview with The Upcoming, Chris Smith spoke about how the film approached the complex dynamic between Robert Downey Jr. and his father: "Very early on Robert's like, 'We're not making a rosy portrait of our relationship because it wasn't all roses', and he was very clear about that. But I think there was an undeniable connection and love between these two people. So I think that push and pull was what made the film interesting. There's a real universality in the relationship between parents and children that we all have and we all experience and I think that those are the things that I was excited about because you have two larger than life personalities, yet there was something very relatable and human about the movie that came together in the end."
- ConnectionsFeatures Balls Bluff (1961)
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- "Sr."
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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