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A forgotten Robert Downey Jr. rom-com is finding new life on Netflix

When Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark unleashed the charm offensive on Peter Parker's Aunt May in Spider-Man: Homecoming, most audiences probably weren't aware that the longtime Iron Man had previous for that kind of thing, after co-starring with Marisa Tomei in a romantic comedy that was released almost 25 years previously.

When Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark unleashed the charm offensive on Peter Parker’s Aunt May in Spider-Man: Homecoming, most audiences probably weren’t aware that the longtime Iron Man had previous for that kind of thing, after co-starring with Marisa Tomei in a romantic comedy that was released almost 25 years previously.

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Given that he only cemented his status as an A-list superstar when his Marvel Cinematic Universe career began with a bang, it’s easy to forget that RDJ has been acting since he was a kid, and he’s now spent 51 of his 56 years as a thespian. The mid-90s wasn’t the most fertile period of his career as he began battling his demons, though, with Only You largely falling through the cracks.

only you

A childhood accident leaves Tomei’s Faith Corvatch convinced that the love of her life will be called Damon Bradley, but their chance encounter hasn’t happened yet. Engaged to somebody with a different name, she flies to Venice on impulse after discovering her fiance’s old classmate Damon Bradley is heading to Italy, but she bumps into Downey Jr.’s Peter Wright instead.

That’s an incredibly convoluted setup for such a formulaic rom-com, and the plot was one of the main sticks used to beat Only You over the head when it landed to middling reviews and disappointing box office in October 1994. That being said, it’s inexplicably become one of Netflix’s hottest tickets this week, rising steadily up the most-watched list having jumped nine places since Friday as per FlixPatrol, so it’s evidently found some new fans.