LOS ANGELES: This could be the Hollywood comeback story of the year. Iron Man is this summer’s first blockbuster and critics agree that it largely has to do with its star Robert Downey Jr. Things weren’t always this great for Downey Jr. For years he was Hollywood’s tragic tale of drug addiction and immense talent going to waste. The acclaimed Woody Allen couldn’t even afford to hire him for his movie because Downey’s insurance would cost too much. Downey Jr along with Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage is considered one of the best actors of his generation, and if he hadn’t wasted away the past decade, he could have surpassed them to become the undisputed best actor of his generation.

He first showed his true potential in the Richard Attenborough directed Chaplin in 1992, and it has taken him almost 15 years to return to delivering on that promise of greatness again.

The success of Chaplin should have been the perfect starting point for him. But he soon started having legal problems and it has been a downward spiral since then.

Downey Jr. was an unlikely choice to play a superhero as he did in Iron Man. But he desperately wanted the role. The director Jon Favreau says, “He’s somebody who’s had it, lost it and now has it again, and it’s like a pit bull who’s got his jaws on a chew toy. Nothing will take this away from him.” The movie’s success and the stability in his personal life is thrilling news for movie aficionados. Film fans expect great things from him.