Actor of the day: Al Pacino
There's always room for improvement
I don’t want to brag but my De Niro game is on point. So when confronted with Pacino in a Moviegrid puzzle, it always feels disappointing to not equally excel. De Niro and Pacino balance each other. They have parallel, but different, and sometimes intersecting careers. They both have a two year old child in their 80s.
It’s easy to name the obvious Pacino movies: Dog Day Afternoon (1975), (rolling my eyes even typing this) The Godfather (1972) / The Godfather Part II (1974) / The Godfather Part III (1990), Scarface (1983), Heat (1995), The Insider (1999), etc.
It should be noted that he’s in many documentaries. Which will work, but I don’t consider it a fun way to play the game.
But what about good Moviegrid answers? Let’s look at those.
The Humbling (2014)
When I clicked on this title in his filmography, I had absolutely no knowledge of this movie’s existence and my jaw dropped. He made a movie with Greta Gerwig?? And they play lovers?!
This sentence from the Wikipedia summary made me laugh.
When he embarks on an affair with an old friend's bisexual daughter, his world begins to fall apart.
Typical, blame everything on the bisexual millennials.
This is based on a Philip Roth novel, which fine, he’s real, but this movie not.
Pacino plays an aging actor who contemplates suicide until, as you learned above, he meets Greta Gerwig.
The cast is stacked with Moviegrid Deepcut candidates: Charles Grodin (I checked and it’s not his very last movie, but close), Dianne Wiest, Dylan Baker, Kyra Sedgwick, and Dan Hedaya
Broadway honorable mention: Nina Arianda, Billy Porter
American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally (2021)
This movie left me speechless for different reasons from The Humbling.
Pacino’s wig.
Shock upon discovering the guy at the bottom isn’t Jason Isaacs. (It is Thomas Kretschmann, who apparently I have seen in other things.) To be clear, is a relief that it isn’t Isaacs but ALSO can we acknowledge that he was at the White House on the day of infamous Karoline Leavitt/Kate Mackz interview? Mackz stops and talks to him. Why. I need answers!
Lala Kent has a supporting role. Lala Kent of Vanderpump Rules is in a movie with Al Pacino!
It is based on the life of Mildred Gillars, an American singer and actor who was tried for treason for broadcasting Nazi propaganda to American troops during WWII. Pacino plays her defense lawyer. It has a 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Is that too high or just right? We’ll never know cause I’ll never watch this. But I will absolutely be using this in Moviegrid.
Misconduct (2016)
Once again, never heard of this, think it’s gonna be important in my rotation.
Based on quickly reading the synopsis, Anthony Hopkins is rich old man who owns a pharmaceutical firm and is abusive to his younger girlfriend who has been abducted. Josh Duhamel is the ex-boyfriend of the younger girlfriend. Before she disappeared she reached out to Duhamel for help and inferred that she held a secret.
Somehow Duhamel gets his boss, Pacino, to help him raise a class action lawsuit against Hopkins. Other basic thriller movie plot points probably ensue. I’m sure at least one main character dies. Please let me know if you’ve ever seen this.
To the important part- Moviegrid cast members: Anthony Hopkins, Glen Powell, Julia Stiles (don’t know how Glen or Julia are involved in the plot, but happy to have them here)
Honorable mention: Josh Duhamel (I said what I said), Alice Eve, Malin Åkerman
I feel personally changed after learning about these movies. They feel like quite juicy Pacino finds. I need him in the Movie Snake immediately to test out how they score.
De Niro has racked up some questionable choices in his filmography, but Grandpa movies are usually as low as he goes. Even his Grandpa movies still have Uma Thurman and Aubrey Plaza. Co-starring with Lala Kent? Girl, you in trouble.