Al Pacino, let’s face it, is a big fat ham. And we love him for it. Yes, he used to be one of the most brilliant, subtle actors in film, plumbing all the complexities of a Michael Corleone or a Sonny Wortzik. Yes, he turned into a cartoon in Scarface (pictured), and he’s scarcely looked back since. He’s become as predictable and imitable as William Shatner, only instead of pregnant pauses, Pacino’s shtick is that volcanic thing he does where he explodes every sixth word or so. And yet he’s great fun to watch, and he reliably enlivens movies that would otherwise be thoroughly pedestrian (The Devil’s Advocate, Two for the Money) without his presence. A Slate article last week, timed to the release of the DVD set Pacino: An Actor’s Vision, bemoans this transformation, but c’mon, since Scarface, we’ve been getting the Pacino we ask for, and in heaping helpings.
Let’s look for a moment at Pacino’s generation of leading men, the guys who redefined film acting in the ’70s and have have served as role models for actors ever since. Besides Pacino, there’s Jack Nicholson, who seldom makes movies anymore and seems content to rest on his laurels. There’s Dustin Hoffman, who still works often, usually playing underdogs seething with resentment or back-slapping clowns. There’s Robert De Niro, who’s perhaps even more prolific than Pacino, but who seems less and less present in the perfunctory genre pieces he takes on like factory work. Only Pacino, with all his exuberant scenery-chewing, still seems to really enjoy each performance — like he wouldn’t rather be off running a restaurant or serving a social cause — and conveys his joy to the audience.
Slate thinks this behavior is pandering, and it probably is, butwhat’s the alternative? The DVD set is full of navel-gazing chatterabout the actor’s craft, and two of the movies Pacino directed (The Local Stigmatic and Chinese Coffee) are the sort of talk-driven acting exercises that are also of interest primarily to other actors. (The third, Looking for Richard,is overtly populist in its effort to make Shakespeare accessible to themasses, and Pacino glows with missionary zeal throughout.) Havinginterviewed Pacino a few times, I know he spent years tinkering with Stigmatic and Coffee;they were workshop studies he made largely for his own amusement,without regard for whether they would please an audience or whether amass audience would ever even see them. That’s what you get when Pacinogoes for craft and subtlety instead of his crowd-pleasing antics, andeven Slate seems to recognize how dull the results are.
Still, even in his populist efforts, Pacino can still achievegreatness — when it suits his broader style. Think of his rumpledmobster in Donnie Brasco, or his Roy Cohn in Angels in America.Both were characters for whom theatricality and flamboyance were partof the point, since they were using all that artifice to hide deepvulnerabilities that they would not admit, even to themselves. In roleslike those, Pacino can reveal both the flashy exterior and the humbledinterior at the same time, and the result is even more riveting than acharacter who’s all bluster like his Satan in Devil’s Advocate.Maybe that’s the other reason Pacino remains popular: We love to watchhim command the screen with his charismatic volatility, but we alsosecretly hope with each role that this will be the one where he offersmore, goes deeper, and illuminates a secret heart, the way he used todo.
I agree Gary, and I thoroughly enjoy the newer, louder, Screaming Pacino. The old, vintage performances are still there, though it’s alarming to see just how much his voice has been worn out since his films in the 70s (must be all that shouting).
I also agree with the point that the guy seems to genuinely be having fun up there and what’s wrong with that. In that way, it’s similar to most of Nicholson’s recent work (save for “About Schmidt”) except that Pacino is more prolific.
I also believe Pacino is still able to dial it down when the role calls for it. Donnie Brasco and The Insider are some of his more recent subtle work I’ve enjoyed.
Other than that I enjoy watching him live it up and liven stuff like “Ocean’s 13″ up.
My favorite Screaming Pacino quote to randomly shout out is “she’s got a great ass!” from Heat. It just came out of nowhwere and seemed to shock Hank Azaria. I know you guys out there also have a fave Pacino quote you like to scream out.
Unlike De Niro who hasn’t logged in a serious, well regarded critical performance in ages (Nicholson at least had About Schmidt), Pacino still does something every few years that reminds you why he’s an acting legend. Donnie Brasco, The Insider, Angels in America and even The Merchant of Venice were all pretty interesting performances.
You could fill an entire talkback just with great Screaming Pacino quotes from Heat alone!! “She’s got a……GREAT A$$!!!”……”Don’t waste my MOTHER F—IN TIME!!!”…… “What do we got? WHAT DO WE GOT??”……..”You know what he’s lookin at? You know what he’s looking at? Us!…..OK!! OK MOTHER F—ER!!!”
That movie is a modern classic and severly underrated, hands down the best crime movie of the past 25 years.
Heat, Donnie Brasco, The Insider, Insomnia, and Angels in America are five terrific and, to certain degrees, understated performances that Pacino’s delivered over the past decade or so. While he more often than not plays the parody of himself that seems to play well with most audiences, he’s still able, with the right script and the right part, to evoke the subtle and complex performances that defined him as one of Hollywood’s best actors, if not the best, 30 years ago.
And then there’s Meryl Streep. The true greatest actor of that generation, who doesn’t have any annoying ticks to fall back on, who takes nary an embarrassing role, and who keeps searching for characters that challenge her while entertaining us.
I thought De Niro looked like he was enjoying himself in Stardust, and Hoffman was great in Stranger than Fiction. His next film looks like a variation on the back-slapping clown theme, though. I like all four of these actors, though, even if they’re not redefining acting anymore. How long can you keep that up, anyway?
Al Pacino is embarrasing to watch. The problem with Pacino is that you can see him acting all the time. You can see all his “choices”. And that’s really annoying. Other actors that aren’t far behind in turning into Pacino are Denzel Washington and Kevin Spacey. That being said, their will always be plenty of over-the-top performances that work, just not when you’re trying to be sooo serious. Maybe Pacino is in on the joke and I just don’t get it, but I don’t think so. At least Meryl Streep has a sense of humor about herself, and because of that gets away with a lot more.
Also, gotta give props to “…and he’s tearing this team A-PART!!!” from “Any Given Sunday”
That movies actually a perfect example of the modern duel Pacino. Ninety percent of that performance (and 99.9 % of that movie) is miles over the top, but his speech about football being a game of “inches” right before the big game is fantastic and some of the best stuff he’s done in the past decade.
Pacino has always been my favorite, to the point where I am willing to forgive and forget that he too played in “Gigly” (perhaps the only movie he played in, and which I refused to watch). He gives substance to every character, and I am never able to keep my eyes of his face when he is acting; everything about his face, his demeanor conveys something about the character he is portraying. Al Pacino is one of the greatest actors of our generation and I look forward to continue to add to the list of successfull films, the names of which I can recite on a moment’s notice. My biggest regret is that I never had the chance to meet him personally.
I’ve always been an Al Pacino fan; it’s rare when I don’t like one of his performances. I was really disappointed in Heat, but I thought that Insomnia was great. And let’s not forget Sea of Love. But I really think his two best performances were Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon.
And let’s not forget Al’s best ever line when he’s being dragged away in ‘And Justice for All.’: ‘YOUR HONOR! I HAVE FINISHED MAKING MY OPENING STAAAAAAAAAAAAATEMENT’
talk about coincidence….last night me and some friends were watching Serpico and naturally a debate broke out over who was the greatest modern actor of all time…Pacino or DeNiro? (I was of course on the side of Pacino)
Although to be honest it is as dead a heat as you can really get when you match up those two guys against one another. But Pacino’s body of work is just incredible. You’ve got the Godfathers, Carlito’s Way, Serpico, Scent of A Woman, Dog Day Afternoon, Heat, I even enjoyed him in Any Given Sunday, and of course Scarface. Now I know you could probably list just as many classic DeNiro titles but there’s just something about Pacino ithat is intangible in his performances. It’s the reason why in a head to head I always go with Tony Montana. Because after all…you f*** with him, you f***** wit the best.
There’s a double-standard with Pacino that no one seems to talk about. True, Pacino has, in the last several years, taken to playing the same, over-the-top version of himself in almost every movie (exceptions like Donnie Brasco happen occasionally, and are usually brilliant), and he’s critically drubbed for it every time. Meanwhile, Jack Nicholson (also mentioned in this article) has spent the last 15-20 years doing the same things – giving, scenery-chewing, over-the-top performances as JACK in every movie but “About Schmidt” – and he gets raves and wins Oscars for it. What’s that about? Frankly, I enjoy Pacino’s over-the-top theatrics in movies like “The Devil’s Advocate” far more than Nicholson’s unrestrained hamminess in “The Departed.” I can’t be the only one …
I saw Al Pacino in “Inside the Actor’s Studio” and you could see he truly loves acting. And he seemed so mellow and humble that is hard to believe he is the guy that sometimes is “over the top” according to many. To me, he is a great actor. I loved him on “Dog Day Afternoon”, “Scent of a Woman”, “Angels in America”…
Yeah, its true Al does go over-the-top quite a lot, but it does it in a way that is amazing acting talent pulls it off and makes still feel real.
I love De Niro in his prime, but his output has been poor since, say, Heat. Godsend, Hide & Seek, Showtime, Analyze That, endless other comedies…
Pacino more often than not makes fantastic movies. Since 90, hes appeared in many films I love…Devils Advocate, Insider, Glengarry Glen Ross, Insomnia, Donnie Brasco (probably his most beautifully subtle and powerful performance), Any Given Sunday, Heat…
I even dug his cameo in Gigli!
Of course, his work in Angels In America was spectacular, and proved that critics and award voters still love him.
Bravo to Ceballos for mentioning Al’s off-the-wall “Shes got a GREAT ass” comment from Heat…and the rest of the line was “…and you’ve got your head ALL THE WAY UP IT!”
How can you not love Al Pacino? Nobody seems to be having as much fun acting as he does.