DVD: Divine Viewing Diversions – Al Pacino Movies
He’s been a major movie star for a half-century.
He’s starred in dozens of high-profile properties – and his share of low-profile films as well.
And he’s so skilled, so magnetic, and so intense, he’s great fun to watch even when he’s way over the top or well off his game.
Or both.
Which is not often.
He’s Al Pacino, and his filmography is something to see.
So here are 10 rewarding Pacino performances from his two most productive decades – the 1970s and the ’90s – that are easily worth the modest trouble of tracking down and ordering for inspired home viewing.
THE GODFATHER (R, 1972)
If you’re a relative newcomer to the movie landscape and you’re looking for a shortcut to superstardom, headlining in a Francis Ford Coppola masterwork about a fictional Mafia patriarchy in the late 1940s is not a bad way to start. Pacino, a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee for his iconic performance as eventual don Michael Corleone, was joined in this Best Picture winner by Best Actor winner Marlon Brando and Best Supporting Actor nominees James Caan and Robert Duvall. As beloved and influential and watchable as movies get, here’s a glorious epic that makes three hours fly by in what feels like three escapist minutes. And just like that, Pacino had arrived.
SERPICO (R, 1973)
With his acknowledged effective ensemble work behind him, Pacino graduated to the title role – yep, another title role – as Frank Serpico, a real-life undercover cop in New York City. Sidney Lumet directed this engrossing movie version of the book by Peter Maas about police corruption exposed by an honest nonconformist who becomes estranged and isolated from his resentful colleagues. This drama rests squarely on Pacino’s shoulders and he received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his troubles. Ultimately, Pacino and Lumet deliver an always lively, sometimes cynical, and often humorous portrait of temptation and incorruptibility, demonstrating vividly that Pacino would remain a viable leading man for decades to come.
THE GODFATHER: PART II (R, 1974)
Anyone who thinks that sequels are never equals has probably not seen this extraordinary follow-up from co-writer/director Coppola, one that more than a few viewers consider the best sequel in movie history. It would bring Pacino a third Oscar nomination, the second for Best Actor. It would win a well-deserved six Oscars, including Best Picture. The mesmerizing drama toggles masterfully between New York City at the turn of the 20th century and Nevada in the late 1950s without ever becoming confusing. Pacino’s role is not necessarily as demanding as his contribution to the original, but it’s a commanding and iconic turn nonetheless, and the film is certainly a gratefully received continuation of one of the great movie franchises of all time.
DOG DAY AFTERNOON (R, 1975)
A third nomination for the Best Actor Oscar came Pacino’s way for this collaboration with director Lumet. Outlandish on its surface but based on a true story, it’s a heist-and-hostages thriller about a sunny-daytime Brooklyn bank robbery by a desperate and incompetent criminal “mastermind,” played by Pacino, who needs money for his male lover’s sex-change operation. Pacino, who dominates the proceedings without needing to push his character’s likability or intelligence – neither of which are in abundant supply – has us in the palm of his hand, just as his character does the crowds his exploits attract. Quirky and audience-friendly in about equal measure, this is a little movie with big entertainment value, as Pacino inches up ever further on the A-list ladder.
THE GODFATHER: PART III (R, 1990)
The second sequel to “The Godfather” would pay the price for following two masterpieces, as it was dealt with rather severely by critics and moviegoers alike. Not that it didn’t deserve much of the criticism. But one wonders had it not been a continuation of a till-then spectacular franchise whether it might have been more welcomed. As for Pacino and his work as Michael Corleone – a guilt-ridden don seeking salvation – while not at the award-meriting level he had displayed in the first two outings, his third delineation of gangster Michael Corleone and his difficult attempt to leave the world of crime behind was at the very least respectable. That is, not necessarily inspiring, but at least absorbing and consistent and skillful.
DICK TRACY (PG, 1990)
For this acknowledged serious actor thriving in dramas and thrillers, it was time for a change of pace, something that would stretch him and demonstrate his range. Director Warren Beatty’s movieization of Chester Gould’s classic comic strip did that, all right, and in the process earned Pacino another Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role playing a villain, Big Boy Caprice. Pacino is hilarious as he gives us a glimpse of his willingness to gamble on going over the top and his confidence that he can control the broadness of his approach in bringing a caricature to life. His interactions with Beatty, with co-star Madonna, and with the many cameoing guest stars, is richly, royally funny. Hello, comedy, meet Al.
FRANKIE AND JOHNNY (R, 1991)
Michelle Pfeiffer was Pacino’s co-star – and the other title character – in this romantic comedy, a movie version of the off-Broadway play about loneliness by Terrence McNally, “Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune.” Pacino is Johnny, a guy recently released from prison who gets a job as a short-order cook and falls for Frankie, a waitress who aggressively avoids emotional entanglements. Pacino is enormously charming, romancing a woman who had given up on romance, but both he and Pfeiffer have to battle essential miscasting, which they impressively manage to pull off. Detractors could probably pick apart the screenplay by McNally, but undeniable star power carries the day with central characters who are easy to root for.
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (R, 1992)
Yet another Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role would come Pacino’s way for this movie version of the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play by David Mamet about an office of desperate, unprincipled real estate salesmen who strongly resemble con artists of a sort. In a glittering supporting ensemble that includes Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin and Jonathan Pryce, Pacino as the seasoned sales leader is the first among equals as, essentially, a magician unloading unwanted properties. Director James Foley allows the piece to pretty much remain a play, but with Mamet’s crisp dialogue and Pacino’s electrifying presence, that’s the right approach.
SCENT OF A WOMAN (R, 1992)
And then, finally, the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role would be bestowed on Pacino for his showy performance as a blind, bullying, essentially alcoholic, no-nonsense ex-Army colonel who hires a timid prep school student as a companion for a long Thanksgiving weekend in New York. Not always believable – especially when direction by Martin Brest and the screenplay by Bob Goldman has the protagonist driving a car wildly and at high speeds through the city streets. But the flawed film is strongly watchable anyway. So, no, this is not Pacino’s most inspired work, but that makes the it’s-about-time Oscar easier to interpret as a career award, demonstrating the actor’s charisma even when mistakes are being made.
HEAT (R, 1995)
Somewhat removed from the Oscars trail, this Michael Mann-directed drama was a chance for appreciative moviegoers to see two legendary actors – Pacino and Robert De Niro – act opposite each other on-screen. That’s something they had never done, given that their only mutual film, “The Godfather: Part II,” never called on them to appear in the same scene. So, when Pacino’s cop and De Niro’s bank robber – who have more in common than we, or they, start off thinking – sit down at a diner table for a tense faceoff in this cops-and-robbers thriller, it feels like a key moment in movie history, although the talented twosome end up having precious little combo-platter screen time together. And what there is makes us wish the rest of the film was as impactful as their meeting.
