Danny Collins (2015)

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

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.

I really liked this one. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, well truthfully I didn't know much about it going in but I wasn't expecting a charming family story. Al Pacino is very likable as an aging rock star who discovers a 40 year old undelivered letter written to him by John Lennon. This inspires him to give up his hard living ways and reconnect with his estranged son. Apparently inspired by a real story about a folk singer (they may have taken some liberties here) as Al appears more like a lounge singer, throughout I got a kinda Neil Diamond vibe from him, his one hit song that he's sick of but keeps having to sing sounded a lot like Sweet Caroline... dun dun da. Anyways a very sweet movie, watching 'Danny" try to change his ways and charm his way into his sons life. Great cast, cute romance with Annette Bening as his hotel concerige /girlfriend, the fabulous Christopher Plummer as his frustrated manger and Bobby Cannavale as the estranged son.The precocious little girl (granddaughter) was a scene stealer.

This is a movie for everyone, especially musicians who have problems dealing and coping with all the fame and money. It can wreak havoc upon anyone's mental stability, including the drugs that are available to the wealthy. I really enjoyed this movie. The only thing that I would have done differently was add more closure with the hotel manager, Mary Sinclair and his relationship with his family. Otherwise, a fine masterpiece with just enough to satisfy some kinds of closure.

Pacino has reached the top of his form. He has matured into the perfect actor. This film is his best work. Ever. The screenplay is good all around but exquisitely beautiful in places. The casting is true art, using some of the best talent in town like Pacino, Christopher Plummer, Annette Bening and especially Jennifer Garner. The acting is top of the line, with the players pulling the story together like a breathtaking Russian ballet. This movie is modern family drama, with a soft touch. It has scenes that will make you cringe a bit, and others that just make you smile inside and out. And add in a few laughs. There is an adorable love story, and there's also a little girl that will steal your heart. Broken family relationships cause pain and heartache. Sometimes they end on a good note, and sometimes not.Have you ever smiled, or even laughed, through tears? This film might do that to you. Highly recommended.

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.