the robert downey jr film guide

‹‹ prev • home • next ››

Game Six (2006)

Tags: Supporting Role, Drama, Middlers, Career Trajectory: Making a Comeback, RDJ is the Only Good Thing About This Movie, The Other Kind of Action, Crazies, Period Piece, Weirdness, On DVD in Region 1, On DVD in Region 2, On DVD in Region 4, Rated R

Summary

A playwright skips the premiere of his show to see game six of the 1986 World Series.

Director

Michael Hoffman

Downey Factor

Low-Medium.

Character

Steven Schwimmer, a despised theater critic who can’t show his true face in public.

Looks

Unkempt with moments of Andy Warhol meets the lead singer of The Cure.

Performance

Paranoid.

Line

The truth is never gentle. Each of us lives in the thinnest possible wrapping of wishes and dreams. And truth is the force that penetrates this wispy skin. It hurts and it maims. That’s my job.

Love & Sex

A creepy near-hook-up with the playwright’s daughter.

Dies, Gay or Villain

No, no, yes.

Cast

Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, Griffin Dunne

Connection

Michael Hoffman’s Restoration and Soapdish. Michael Keaton in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Time & Place

1986 in New York.

Availability

Released in theaters 10 March 2006. On DVD in Region 1, 2 and 4.

Foreign Titles

Germany: Das Leben ist ein Spiel! (Life is a Game)
Poland: Szósty Mecz (Sixth Match)
Portugal: Sorte e Destino (Luck and Destiny)

Rotten Tomatoes

58% Fresh | 38 reviews

Critical View

Richard Roeper, Ebert and Roeper: Robert Downey Jr. seems to be applying for the Christopher Walken lifetime achievement award for never giving a dull performance in a movie. He puts a crazy mesmerizing spin on the role of Steven Schwimmer, a powerful critic who kills plays and ruins lives with his devastating reviews.

Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times: As things drag on, you can ask yourself: which seems longer ago, the days when anyone cared about whether the Red Sox would ever win the series, or the days when a lone theater critic had the clout to terrify Broadway?

2 Reasons to See It

1. The disguise he wears to go out in public.
2. Priceless bit about a forgetful stage actor.

Overall

So-so movie with unlikely character interaction is shades of One Night Stand, except with a bit more Downey and less melodrama.

If You Like It

You might also like Soapdish (1991), One Night Stand (1996)

Photos

Video