Great acting--story not so much.
Danny Collins
Grade: C+
Director: Dan Fogelman
Screenplay: Fogelman
Cast: Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman), Jennifer Garner (Dallas Buyers Club)
Rating: R
Runtime: 106 min.
by John DeSando
“Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.” Joan Didion
Danny Collins is about the imperfect redemption of an old rock star (think Rod Stewart). The cast carries a light-weight comedy/drama with class, headed by aging Al Pacino (possibly miscast as he seems uncomfortable), who knows something about the subject as a super-star actor. However some touching scenes help bolster an otherwise weak imitation of Jerry Maguire.
Although Danny is disturbingly high most of the time from constant drinking and drug taking (Welcome home, Mr. Cliché), the film adds heft by having Danny try to reconcile with his son, Tom (Bobby Cannavale, terrific partly because he doesn’t overplay his usual working-class loudmouth), whom he has never met and his family, including sweet daughter in law, Samantha (Jennifer Garner) and charismatic granddaughter, Hope (Giselle Elsenberg, whom you should watch out for in the future—she’s darn good). Those moments of dramatic worth are few because the film concentrates too much on the popularly accepted tropes about famous stars.
Danny’s attempted flirtation with hotel manager Mary (Annette Bening, always classy even as the Columbia Pictures model for their updated torch- holding icon) has the realistic touches. I appreciate the parallel parsing of how difficult Danny’s change of life will be.
The catalyst for the dramatic change in Danny is the letter he receives but never reads from John Lennon (based on a letter singer Steve Tilston received in 2005). It encourages Danny to retire from retreading his famous songs to trying new compositions. The result of this daring move is not what you might suspect and a testimony to writer/director Dan Fogelman’s willingness to accept the reality of what makes the audience happy, not the performer.
“If your life changes, we can change the world, too.” Yoko Ono
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
