74 | DECEMBER 15 • 2022 

THE DOWNEY FAMILY, 
ASNER IS STILL IN NEW 
STUFF, THE WHALE

Sr., is a “now-streaming” 
original Netflix documentary 
about avant-garde director/
writer Robert Downey 
Sr. It was co-directed by 
Downey Sr. (1936-2021) 
and his son, famous actor 
Robert Downey Jr., 57. This 
isn’t a “by the numbers” 
biography. It is a very 
moving portrait of father 
and son as they make 
parallel “home movie” 
biographies of Robert Sr. 
The two films have been 
merged together in the film 
we see. 
 I felt (in a good way) the 
documentary was a great 
excuse for father and son to 
spend a lot of time together, 
knowing that Robert Sr. was 
suffering from Parkinson’s 
and his time was short. 
 Most people aren’t 
familiar with Robert Sr.’s 
films. You learn a lot about 
them in the documentary. 
Long ago, I saw Sr.’s best-
known films: Putney Swope 
(1969) and Greaser’s 
Palace (1972). The former 
pioneered funny “fake ads” 
that satirized the Madison 
Avenue variety. A few years 
later, such fake funny ads 
became an SNL staple. 
Greaser’s Palace was a 

wild, sort-of Western that 
starred the late Allan Arbus 
as a kind-of-Christ figure. 
It’s worth viewing. (Robert 
Jr. had brief roles in both 
films and clips of him, as 
a child actor, are in the 
documentary). 
 The Netflix film 
addresses Robert Sr.’s long-
term cocaine addiction 
and it alludes to Robert 
Jr.’s horrendous battle with 
the same addiction. Robert 
Sr. candidly says what a 
mistake drugs were and 
how much he regrets that 
his behavior influenced his 
son. But there is so much 
love between this father-
and-son that “blame for 
addiction” isn’t an issue that 
divides them. 
The big take-away from 
the film is the tender love 
among Downey family 
members. Robert Sr. 
clearly loves and enjoys 
his wife, his son and his 
grandchildren (Robert Jr.’s 
charming young children). 
 Robert Jr.’s wife, talent 
agent Susan Levin 
Downey, 49, is seen now 
and again. Robert Jr. has 
said that she was critical 
to his recovery. They wed 
in a Jewish ceremony 
and Downey Jr. now calls 
himself “Jewish-Buddhist.” 
I strongly suspect their 
children are being raised 
Jewish.
Robert Sr. was born 
Robert Ellis. His father 

was “all Jewish” and his 
maternal grandmother was 
Jewish. Robert Jr. is “3/8” 
Jewish. In the film, Downey 
Sr. explains why he took 
the “non-Jewish” last name 
Downey. 
Frankly, Robert Sr. comes 
off as a funny old Jewish 
guy. Appropriately, Alan 
Arkin, 88, and Norman 
Lear, 100, two funny 
old Jews, are briefly 
interviewed about Downey 
Sr. 

 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: 
Rodrick Rules, an animated 
film, began streaming on 
Dec. 2 (Disney+). Like all 
the Wimpy Kids movies, it 
is based on a bestselling 
series of novels for young 
readers. 
Here’s the Wimpy movie 
story: four “live action” 
Wimpy Kids movies were 
released from 2010-2017, 
including a film (2012) 
with the same title as the 
new film and pretty much 
the same plot. In 2021, 
Disney released a “reboot” 
animated film version of the 
first live action film (Diary of 
a Wimpy Kid) — and Rules 
is the second reboot. 
Ed Asner, who died 
in 2021, age 91, co-stars 
as Grandpa Heffley, the 
grandfather of Greg (the 
Wimpy Kid) and Greg’s 
annoying brother, Rodrick. 
Basic plot: Greg does 
Rodrick a big favor and 
Rodrick shares his “secret 
rules” with Greg. The 
“rules” are tips on how to 
manipulate people into 
doing stuff that Rodrick 
likes. About halfway 
through the film, the boys’ 
parents go out of town, and 
they stay with their Grandpa 
at his nursing home for 
several days.
Asner loved to work and 
at the time of his death 
he had completed 10 TV 

shows and movies that 
hadn’t (yet) been released. 
Six Asner projects (two 
voice and four “live”) remain 
to be released. 
The most exciting is 
Deadly Draw in which 
he co-stars as “Max 
Perlmutter” (got to be 
Jewish!) a participant in a 
very dangerous card game. 
By the way, Asner holds 
the record for the most 
Primetime Emmys won 
(seven) by any actor. He 
could be the first actor to 
win an Emmy two years or 
more after his death!
The Whale, which is 
now in theaters, stars 
Brendan Fraser as Charlie, 
a morbidly obese man. He 
is plagued with guilt about 
leaving his wife for another 
man. 
He also feels guilty 
about leaving his daughter 
behind, and they are 
long estranged. After the 
death of his male partner, 
Charlie “cycles” down and 
he seems to want to kill 
himself via overeating.
Film festival audiences 
seemed to love the film, 
and there’s real “Oscar 
buzz” about Fraser’s 
performance. But reviews, 
overall, are mostly negative. 
The film was directed 
by Darren Arnofsky, 53. 
None of his films are “easy” 
watches (his hits include 
The Wrestler and Black 
Swan). 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

IMDB

Robert Downey Sr.

GAGE SKIDMORE 

Robert Downey Jr.

SAMHSA 

Ed 
Asner

