Heart and Souls (1993)

Episode 107 (March 15, 2024)

The week Robert Downey Jr. has finally secured his coveted Oscar, we take a trip back in time. The year is 1993. A movie called Heart and Souls is released, in the aftermath of what Downey must have assumed was his Academy Award for the movie Chaplin (1992). We take a big long look at RDJ’s career and also examine the curious ’90s phenomenon of angel movies.

Time stamps:
00:01:35 — Our personal histories with Heart and Souls
00:08:35 — Pre-movie predictions
00:12:54 — History segment: Career overviews of director Ron Underwood and star Robert Downey Jr.
00:48:12 — In-depth movie discussion
01:44:08 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:
“Your Ambition” – https://youtu.be/ZHudVTCkrQY
“Winston-Salem” – https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM
“Snake Drama” – https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg
“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” – https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ

Sources:

“The Star In Cell 17” by Steve Garbarino | Vanity Fair 2000 – https://bit.ly/48Qsq5W

“More Than Skin Deep” by Jon Wilde | The Guardian, 2003 – https://bit.ly/3wSYusL

“May God Bless and Keep Robert Downey Jr.” by Scott Raab | Esquire, 2007 – https://bit.ly/4cinVUH

“Been Up, Been Down. Now? Super.” by David Carr | New York Times, 2008 – https://nyti.ms/3IFieT8

“Robert Downey Jr: return of the hero” by Murphy Williams | The Telegraph, 2008 – https://bit.ly/3Vko04f

“Robert Downey Jr.’s Third Act” by Anthony Breznican | Vanity Fair, 2023 – https://bit.ly/3TzEioC