Dave checks out a misfire from Robert Downey Sr. that’s problematic with a capital ‘P’.

When Robert Downey Sr. died on 7th July 2021, Variety called his film Putney Swope (1969) a devastating satire and labelled him a cult director who thrived in the auteur-driven film industry of the 1970s [1]. Thirty years prior, Quentin Tarantino’s favourite critic, Kevin Thomas, had a much less favourable opinion of the divisive filmmaker, describing him as “a low-budget iconoclast, with little talent and even fewer inhibitions.” [2]

In defence of Thomas, though, he had just endured a screening of TOO MUCH SUN: a sporadically offensive excuse for a comedy that searches for laughs in the lowest of places, with Downey Sr. thinking that AIDS and paedophilia go hand in hand with queer characters. Tellingly, the helmer remained content with the tone of the picture, telling The San Francisco Examiner:

“Gays and lesbians from the test audiences are happy with the results. They all come out pleased there was some laughter. It’s great. Just because of AIDS, why should no movies come out with gay people in them? After all, two years ago we met a lot of people who felt that a movie with gays in wasn’t commercial.” [3]

Howard Duff is O.M.: a multimillionaire whose rapidly deteriorating health calls for his affairs to be put in order before he shuffles off this mortal coil. With a son (Eric Idle) and daughter (Andrea Martin) in tow, the will should, in theory, be clean-cut – but with Duff’s closest ally being a conniving priest (Jim Haynie), the old man’s last wishes are altered just before he draws his final breath. In order to receive their $200million fortune, both of O.M.’s childless offspring are ordered to extend the family lineage within a year of their father’s death. The catch? They’re both gay, and any potential bambino must be conceived ‘in the traditional way’.

There’s a moment early on in Too Much Sun when a mincing and moustachioed Eric Idle appears, dressed in a skimpy leopard print robe and budgie smugglers, and you feel like you’re gazing in disbelief at an era that left town with blackface. The film is littered with a parade of tiresome stereotypes, some more repugnant than others, and you have to question the mindset of the executive who read the script by Al Schwarz, Downey Sr., and Laura Ernst [4] and thought it worthwhile to throw money at it.

Remembered for his satirical wit, I found myself wondering who, precisely, is Downey Sr. mocking here. If Too Much Sun was devised to lampoon the filthy rich and the desperation of their greedy descendants then fine, but why make them gay? It doesn’t add to the satire: it reduces its impact, and, in turn, it adds a distraction that only serves to diminish the supposed ‘comedic’ intentions.

Naturally, Robert Downey Jr. pops up as a real estate cowboy with a mock English accent so irritating even his business partner (Ralph Macchio) begs him to stop. There are also cameos for the likes of James Hong and Allan Arbus – although it’s the unlikely sight of Leo Rossi who comes out of this sorry mess with his reputation intact. He plays Idle’s lover with a degree of restraint; something his fellow cast members could have done with mimicking.

Debuting at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 1990, Too Much Sun made it to U.S. cinemas for a brief run the following January before hitting tape via Columbia-TriStar Home Video. Its UK release took a little longer. Minor label First View pushed it into stores some time in 1992, the words ‘LAUGH YOUR HEAD OFF’ written in thick, red capital letters across the top of their sleeve.

They couldn’t have been more wrong.

USA ● 1990 ● Comedy ● 98mins

Eric Idle, Leo Rossi, Andrea Martin, Robert Downey Jr., Ralph Macchio ● Dir. Robert Downey Sr. ● Wri. Robert Downey Sr., Laura Ernst, Al Schwarz

[1] Robert Downey Sr., Director and Father of Actor Robert Downey Jr., Dies at 85 by Carmel Dagan, Variety, 7th July 2021.
[2] Review: Too Much Sun by Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times, 25th January 1991.
[3] Robert Downey: Out From Under His Cloud by Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Examiner, 20th January 1991.
[4] Ernst, Downey Sr.’s second wife, died in 1994 at the tragically young age of thirty-six from motor neurone disease.