Danny Collins

         I can’t help but have a soft spot for a film that starts with: “This is sorta based on a true story, a little bit”.  I am often hesitant about a film that contains this much talent, but not much is known about it. Not usually a recipe for movie gold.  While I won’t say ‘Danny Collins’ is movie gold, I will say it is an immensely watchable and just an enjoyable movie experience. If you are a Pacino fan, it is probably one of his best roles in years, where he gets to be over-the-top Pacino (whoo-ah), while at the same time exploring some very human and subtle issues.  I can see why Pacino was attracted to this film and I’m glad he didn’t just phone it in.

Danny Collins (Al Pacino) was an immensely popular Rock star in the 70’s who is approaching the end of his career.  He feels he is a hollow joke as he hasn’t performed a new song in 30 years and the one that made him famous, he didn’t even write.  He feels he has become a parody of himself and not the artist he wanted to be.  While still able to afford the lavish lifestyle of a Rock legend, his birthday causes him to reflect on his career and that he has nothing he is proud of.  Danny is stunned when his manager Frank, his only true friend (played by the legendary Christopher Plummer) gives him a present that could have changed his life years ago.  It turns out, that at the beginning of Danny’s career, John Lennon sent him a letter admiring his early work and urging him to stay true to his art.  While elated, Danny does feel that had he received this back then, he would have been inspired to pursue his art instead of taking the easy road of rock stardom.  Danny examines his life and decides to take one last stab at making his life mean something

Danny travels to New Jersey and checks into a local Hilton hotel with two goals in mind.  One; to hole up in a room with a Steinway piano and try to write again.  Two; to connect with the only son he is aware of having.  An offspring from a one night stand with a groupie years ago.  Trying to connect with his son proves to be the more challenging as his now grown son Tom  (played outstandingly by Bobby Cannivale) is living a very normal life with a wife (Jennifer Garner) and daughter in the suburbs.  Tom is aware that his father is Danny Collins, but has spent his whole life trying to disassociate himself from him and tries to lead a normal life.  Despite his claims that he is ‘over it’, you can tell Tom is angry and resentful for not having a father growing up and is not interested in reconnecting just because Danny is having an end of life crisis of conscience  

Despite his depression, Danny displays his learned charm and charisma with everyone he runs into as only Pacino can play.  It’s a great showcase that allows Pacino to be Pacino, yet dig deep into some great emotional areas.  Along the way, he tries to work his aging charms on the manager of the Hilton, Mary (played straight laced by Annette Benning).  Despite her professional distance, they have a ‘patter’ that is fun to watch and Mary proves to be both inspirational and grounding to Danny who is used to a life and people of excess.  Mary is cordial and professionally distant, but continually encouraging as the two become more comfortable with each other. Mary guides Danny emotionally through the uncharted waters of normalcy that the family connections he is pursuing.

If I have one critique of this film is that some of the scenes and plot lines felt emotionally manipulative.  Truly great scripts and writing takes you on emotional journeys without the audience realizing it.  Usually, there is nothing I dislike more than a script trying to gratuitously play on your emotions.  That being said, I did travel the emotional gambit the film intended despite being aware of what it was trying to do, so that has to say something about the quality of the writing.

There is nothing ground breaking in this film.  This isn’t even Pacino’s best work (but probably his best in a decade), but sometimes a small low budget film can be a nice story and a pleasant experience.  I would call this a guilty pleasure, but there is nothing guilty about it.  It’s a great cast working well in an ensemble.  The story is fun, while pulling at the heart strings.  Like I said at the beginning, if you are looking for a nice time at the movies, this is probably a good way to spend an afternoon.

I give this film **1/2 stars. 

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi343846681/

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

      The original ‘Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ never got its’ full box office due.  It was released the same weekend as ‘The Avengers’ and, as a result, was widely overlooked. I had such a high opinion of this hidden gem that the idea of a sequel made me nervous as a bad sequel can often detract from the memory of one’s idealized version of the original.  Fortunately, my fears were unfounded as, while not superior to the original, it definitely is a worthy compliment.  It’s a pleasure to see these legends of British cinema come together in an ensemble cast and deliver an entertaining time at the movies (and let’s throw in Richard Gere too, why not?)

This time around, the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has become so successful that Sonny Kapoor (played by the kinetic Dev Patel), decides he is  ready to open a chain of hotels dedicated to providing a beautiful place for seniors to live out their twilight years.  Seeking the financial backing of an American company, Sonny juggles preparing the hotel for their inspectors and trying to arrange his wedding with his beautiful fiancee, Sunaina (Tina Desai). The film takes us deeper into the lives of the tenants as they adapt to their new lives in India and, even at this late stage in life, struggle to make sense of the meaning of it all.  The comedic is deftly balanced with the profound and, if I have any complaint, some of the storylines seemed on par with a sitcom rather than a feature length film.

Richard Gere’s Guy Chambers is introduced as geriatric eye-candy and provides a foil for Sonny who is torn between trying to ensure the greatest stay ever for a possible hotel inspector and protecting his mother from a potential love interest.  Sonny knows that Guy must be the undercover hotel inspector as he remembered that their potential financial backers said they would send on of their ‘guys’ to check the hotel out. Dev Patel is at his comedic best when trying to frantically balance multiple chaotic situations and always managing to say and do the wrong thing.  Another great performance 

I am always grateful to see films made that fall outside the normal targeted box office range of 18 to 45 yr olds.  I am even more impressed when those films can appeal to people of all ages.  The ‘Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ contains  plenty of comedy and situations that deal with universal questions of finding one’s way in the world and discovering meaning even in the most ludicrous of situations.  The film pokes fun at, but never ridicules or demeans,  people’s struggles as they age.  The idea that life goes on, grows, and changes, even as it enters its’ final stages resonates throughout the film and while it invokes our sympathy and sometimes sorrow, it rarely causes us to pity.

One of the things I found most profound is that at a stage of life where we hope we have most of the important things figured out, people still struggle with even the most basic of relationships.  How we connect remains just as complicated, if not more so, due to all the life  baggage that has been acquired along the way.  One steps cautiously given the awareness of the pitfalls that lie ahead even though time is the one thing not in abundance.  The problems of their love lives could have appeared in films featuring characters of all age ranges.

The sights and sounds of India are on full display. The beauty and colors permeate throughout even when exploring areas not necessarily the most scenic.  The wedding of Sonny and Sunaina is as colorful a festival as any travel show could possibly hope to portray.  It was an interesting balance of showing the beginning of their lives amongst the twilight of the others.  It’s difficult to show life as a celebration and adventure as one’s life begins to wind down, but that what these two films are all about.  ‘It ain’t over till it’s over’ and one can begin and reinvent one’s life as often as one is able. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this film and found it a worthwhile sequel to a great film about aging with dignity.  

I give this film *** stars

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3254693401?ref_=ttvi_vi_imdb_1