Underseen Movie: ‘Danny Collins’ in Which Al Pacino Plays a Rock Star
When “Danny Collins” was released back in 2015, it felt like Al Pacino had played every kind of character there is on the stage and silver screen. But with this film, he plays a character unlike any he has taken on before; a rock star. Granted, a lot of people treat Pacino like he is a rock star already, especially when it comes to his role as Tony Montana in “Scarface,” but this did feel like a new thing for him. For a moment, the thought of Pacino as a popular singer was a bit terrifying. Can he even sing? Will he come off like the male version of Kim Carnes? By the way, I love Kim Carnes, so let’s not get the wrong impression here.
Well, Pacino can sing, and he is one of the reasons why “Danny Collins” proves to be far more enjoyable than I expected it to be. The story of an aging musician looking for redemption has been told time and time again, and there is very little in the way of originality to be found here. Still, I found this film to be a sweet and heartfelt look at a man looking to reclaim parts of his life which he has long since lost.
Pacino modeled Danny on both Barry Manilow and Rod Stewart, and we first see Danny singing songs to adoring crowds who cannot seem to get enough of him. He used to write his own songs, but after his second album got such a negative response, he went on to sing everybody else’s hits instead. These days he has all the fame and fortune he could ever want, all the drugs and alcohol to keep his deepest fears at bay and, of course, a fiancé half his age.
But then one day, Danny’s manager, Frank Grubman (Christopher Plummer), shows up with a letter written to him by John Lennon from forty years ago. For some reason, this letter was never delivered to Danny, but in it, John tells him not to worry about fame and fortune being detrimental to his talent. Upon reading this long-lost letter, Danny begins to wonder what his life would have been like had he gotten it much, much sooner. As a result, he drops out of his current tour and travels out to New Jersey to reconnect with his family and, hopefully, rediscover his musical muse.
For a moment, I thought I was going to be cringing non-stop as Danny goes to meet the son he never got to know. We know that those kinds of father-son meetings are fraught with tension and a lot of understandably hurt feelings, and the one shown in Danny Collins is no different. The chemistry, however between Pacino and Bobby Cannavale who plays Danny’s son, Tom, is very strong, and their acting really lifts this material up and away from the generic kind it could have easily fallen victim to. Cannavale previously acted opposite Pacino in a Broadway production of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” so these two have a rhythm of working together which they have clearly gotten comfortable with.
Jennifer Garner plays Tom’s wife, Samantha Leigh Donnelly, and she is a lovely presence to watch here. What I loved about her performance is how down to earth she is to where you never catch her acting. Samantha is a doting mother to hers and Tom’s daughter, Hope, and she is already pregnant with their second child, so you know she is capable of handling more things than either Danny or Tom can on their own. She proves to be the calm in the stormy relationship between estranged father and son, and she makes it clear to the men in this family that they had best listen to what she has to stay.
While we’re at it, I have to applaud young Giselle Eisenberg for her exceptional performance as Hope. It says a lot about the 7-year-old actress that she can hold her own with Pacino and company from scene to scene.
Right from the start, Christopher Plummer makes his manager character of Frank Grubman anything but a cliché. I liked how effortlessly Plummer made Frank the much-needed conscience Danny has desperately needed throughout his career, and he remains compulsively watchable throughout as he takes what could have been your typical backstabbing show business manager and turns him into a reasonable human being.
Another real delight to be found in “Danny Collins” is the great Annette Bening who gives her character of hotel manager, Mary Sinclair, a wonderfully biting sense of humor. Of all the characters here, Mary is the one who is not easily enamored by Danny and is not about to be seduced by his endless charisma. Throughout, I enjoyed the back-and-forth Bening and Pacino have, and her performance serves as a reminder of what a brilliant actress she can be. May we never forget this important fact.
As for Pacino, I very much appreciated his work here. There is none of the bombast which he became inescapably identified with after his Oscar winning performance in “Scent of a Woman.” He is also great at hinting at the fears tearing away at Danny as he tries to write his first song in lord only knows how long, and he makes you root for him to do more than just sing “Baby Doll.”
“Danny Collins” marks the directorial debut of Dan Fogelman, the screenwriter of such films as “Crazy Stupid Love,” “The Guilt Trip” and “Last Vegas.” He based it on the true story of when musician Steve Tilston received a long-lost letter from John Lennon, but he basically took the idea of that story and went from there. My hat is off to him for introducing this movie to us as something other than “based on a true story.” There’s an opening epigraph which says this film is kind of based on a true story, but not really. Kudos to Fogelman for introducing his film with something other than one of the most overused cinematic terms which has long since lost its meaning.
This could have easily been schmaltzy affair that ran on too much emotional manipulation, but Fogelman manages to keep the proceedings from ever feeling completely cringe-inducing. The plot is very formulaic, and there is a certain disease thrown in for one of the characters which may not have been entirely necessary, but he keeps things running smoothly to where you realize a lot of heart went into this.
But what really elevates “Danny Collins” above the usual formulaic norm are the performances and a director eager to not give us the same old stuff (not entirely anyway). This film was made for a fraction of what most motion pictures cost to make these days (and this does not include advertising), so it should be clear that this is a labor of love more than anything else. I left this film with the hope Danny will find the courage to be a songwriter once again, and that means a lot as I often lose my mojo as a writer to where I get nothing written. Here is hoping we all find our way back when we lose our way in life.
* * * out of * * * *
The Ultimate Rabbit 