ThiefHott Too much of everything

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

CineCritic2517 Nicholson plays Danny Collins, a talentless, ageing folk Singer who got written a note by Lennon back in '71, only to read it 4 and half decades later. The note changes his spirit and subsequently Danny goes looking for his estranged son and befriends a desk clerk in some motel.Those must be violins, I'm hearing?The acting chops of Nicholson and Hunt notwithstanding, the movie is a complete disaster. Not only is the maudlin story and impotent scenario offensive to the point of where's-my-forty-five, what in the nine hells is Pacino doing being cast in the title role? Murray, Malkovitch, maybe even Tommy Lee could have done a more believable rendition of a corpsing rock star. Pacino can't sing? Hello? Think mcFly, Think..Utter rubbish, 24 karat schmaltz..

blanche-2 Released in 2015, "Danny Collins" is based on a true story, that of singer Steve Tiltson. It stars Al Pacino, Annette Benning, Christopher Plummer, Bobby Carnevale, and Jennifer Garner.Pacino is, who else, Danny Collins, a world-famous singer. It appears from the opening interview in 1971 that Danny intended to be a Bob Dylan or the evolved John Lennon, who is his idol. Yet when we see Danny perform 40 years later, looking like a lounge lizard, his big song is something called "Baby Doll." So it appears along the way that Danny made some different choices which are a reflection of an empty life.Danny's life is one filled with indulgence - alcohol, coke, a trophy wife sleeping with somebody else, a plane, etc., yet he seems miserable. Well one can get a little tired of all these people with money being unhappy. But then you read about the lives some of them with multiple divorces, drug addiction, kids who hate them, affairs, rehab - and it doesn't seem to mean much.That's Danny. But then his manager (Plummer) gives him a letter that was sent to Danny 40 years earlier. Lennon sent it to the writer who interviewed Danny for a magazine. Instead of delivering it, he held onto it and ultimately sold it to a collector. His manager saw it for sale and purchased it.The letter knocks Danny for a loop. John Lennon tells him to be true to himself, that money and fame can't corrupt him - "only you can do that." Danny moves into a hotel with the intention of going back to his songwriting. He meets a woman, Mary (Annette Benning) who is friendly but turns down all his dinner invitations. He then tries to get to know his son, whom he's never met. His son hates just the thought of him, so it is no surprise that he's rejected. But Danny doesn't give up. Though this movie is slightly predictable, its sentimentality is deftly handled by the writer/director, Dan Fogelman. And Al Pacino's performance is brilliant - he's not yelling, for one thing. His acting is subtle, and he gives the viewer a fully fleshed-out character of a man trying to change and wondering if it might be too late. The actor is an odd choice for the role, but he makes it work. Annette Benning is wonderful as Mary, who hears part of his new song and realizes he needs encouragement. Christopher Plummer as usual is fantastic. He could have hammed up the role of manager, but falling into something stereotypical is something only an amateur would do. Instead, he's sincere, caring, and very direct.Stage and screen actor Bobby Carnevale plays Danny's son, who is filled with unexpressed anger and worry. Carnevale has a wide range, from Will's boyfriend on Will and Grace to a disgustingly cruel character on "Boardwalk Empire" - here's a dad with a lot on his mind - and the last thing he needs is a father he doesn't know. Jennifer Garner plays his wife, and she's lovely.Beautiful story with a great ending. So glad I watched it. It was well worth it.

Casey Collopen When I started watching this movie I thought it was some stupid, low budget movie. I was mistaken. It first portrays how (shown in many movies) superstars land up at some point in their career, with drugs and alcohol. Al Pachino played a good role in this movie and I think it's worth being one of his best.When Danny Collins gets this surprising letter from John Lennon he decides to finally come out of his drug stage and, in a way, start fresh. First by mending - actually creating a bond with his son that he has never met before who has his own family and hates his guts. There the story of this movie builds! I took the time to pay attention to this movie and I enjoyed it but I don't think all will because it was a bit long and it dragged out. None the less it was brilliant, good acting, good actors (and actresses) along with a humorous side to the movie. A well deserved 8!

Mobithailand Regular readers of my film reviews and blog will know that one of my very favourite actors is Al Pacino. I make no claim that he is the finest actor to ever appear on the silver screen, indeed many of his performances are way over the top; but I don't care - I love him. Any movie that Al Pacino stars in is fine in my book - he always lights up the screen, always turns in unforgettable performances, and invariably takes a mundane story and makes it magical.And so it is in Danny Rose, where Al Pacino plays an ageing pop star who can still fill stadiums by singing the same banal songs that he made famous some 40 years earlier. Most of his devoted fans have grown old with him and we see rows and rows of women of a certain age all screaming and whooping whenever he appears on stage. I am trying to think of similar performers in real life, and maybe the likes of Barry Manilow or in the UK, maybe Cliff Richards might fill the bill. But dear old Danny is far more of a caricature than a real life person, and unlike Manilow and Richards, none of his 40 -year old songs have any merit whatsoever, and he really isn't a very nice person.But then something happens that is actually based on a true story. His manager, (the excellent Christopher Plummer in one of his last roles), tracks down a letter that was sent to Danny in 1971 by John Lennon, but which Danny never received. Lennon had sent him some advice about his songwriting and suggested they meet up. Danny is shocked and traumatised as he wonders how his life might have changed if he had received the letter. He is suddenly hit with the realisation that he has been a drunken ass-hole for most of his life; that he is kidding himself if he thinks that his gorgeous, sexy fiancé, one-third of his age, could really care for him, and the fact that he hasn't written a worthwhile song in more than 40 years. He decides to abandon his moneymaking tour (which we later discover was to be his retirement pension) and move into a suburban New Jersey hotel and track down his long lost son who he has never met.There is some wonderful, tender interplay between Pacino, his son's wife and daughter and later his son, who hates him with a purple passion. There are also some amusing, touching scenes with Pacino and his fiancé, (who receives Danny's blessing to cheat on him), and with the female hotel manager and two of the hotel staff. To be honest, the story is a little on the clichéd side, and some of the events are predictable - but not all. There are some blatant attempts to extract a few tears from us as fatal health issues are dragged to centre stage - but not for Danny… Without Pacino, this movie would probably die without much fanfare, but as ever, he lifts it out of the ordinary to a higher plane. Along with Plummer, Jennifer Garner as his daughter-in-law, and the excellent Annette Benning as the hotel manager, they made a corny story it into an excellent movie treat. Hollywood and Pacino oiling the movie wheels to perfection.