"Danny Collins" (2015 release; 106 min.) brings the story of an aging rock star Danny Collins (played by Al Pacino). As the movie opens, we are reminded that the movie is "kind of based on a true story a little bit". In the opening scene, Danny Collins is interviewed in 1971 for the Chime In magazine, on the verge of his big breakthrough. The movie then switches to July 12, 2014, when Danny performs at a sold-out Greek Theater. The next day, at his 'surprise' birthday party, Danny's manager (played by Christopher Plummer) has a birthday gift: a letter John Lennon wrote to him after reading that 1971 interview, which never arrived. In the letter, Lennon urges him to "stay true to yourself and to your music". Danny has a "d'oh" moment and decides to change his life. He flies out to New jersey and sets up shop in a Hilton room, and the first order of business is to visit his grown-up son whom he's never met. At this point we are about 15 min. into the movie. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Several comments: this is the directing debut of screen writer Dan Fogelman, of "Crazy Stupid Love" and "Last Vegas"., both of which I have seen, and I have to say that "Danny Collins" is perfectly in line with both those movies: a pleasant, if non-challenging, movie experience. The differentiator here, though, is the music, which obviously plays a HUGE role in the movie. First, Fogelman able to convince Yoko Ono to allow the use of a bunch of John Lennon songs (from his solo career). I counted at least 7 in the movie (Working Class Hero; Whatever Gets You Through The Night; Imagine; Nobody Told Me; Beautiful Boy; Dream #9; Love Is Real). On top of that, the original songs that appear in the movie are composed by none other than Ryan Adams (yes, THAT Ryan Adams) and Theodore Shapiro. But what makes this movie ultimately click are the winning performances: let's start with Al Pacino, now 74 if you can believe it. He looks like he's having a blast with this role. Annette Bening is just perfect as the 'mousy' Hilton manager and Danny's potential love interest. When Danny first arrives at the hotel, Danny jokes with her that "while you're checking me in, I'm checking you out", ha! Bobby Cannavale as Danny's son and Jennifer Garner as his wife do very nicely as well. But in the end, it's mostly about Pacino and he oozes charm from start to finish. Stay for the movie's end titles, though, where it is revealed on whose real life musician this is (very loosely) based on (I admit I have never heard of him before).
"Danny Collins" finally opened this weekend here in Greater Cincinnati, playing on a handful of screens. The early evening screening where I saw this at was not attended well (and I'm being mild), which sort of surprised me, as the trailer for this has been playing regularly in theaters for quite some time. Bottom line: if you are in the mood for a perfectly pleasant rom-com with a winning cast, you cannot go wrong with "Danny Collins".
Several comments: this is the directing debut of screen writer Dan Fogelman, of "Crazy Stupid Love" and "Last Vegas"., both of which I have seen, and I have to say that "Danny Collins" is perfectly in line with both those movies: a pleasant, if non-challenging, movie experience. The differentiator here, though, is the music, which obviously plays a HUGE role in the movie. First, Fogelman able to convince Yoko Ono to allow the use of a bunch of John Lennon songs (from his solo career). I counted at least 7 in the movie (Working Class Hero; Whatever Gets You Through The Night; Imagine; Nobody Told Me; Beautiful Boy; Dream #9; Love Is Real). On top of that, the original songs that appear in the movie are composed by none other than Ryan Adams (yes, THAT Ryan Adams) and Theodore Shapiro. But what makes this movie ultimately click are the winning performances: let's start with Al Pacino, now 74 if you can believe it. He looks like he's having a blast with this role. Annette Bening is just perfect as the 'mousy' Hilton manager and Danny's potential love interest. When Danny first arrives at the hotel, Danny jokes with her that "while you're checking me in, I'm checking you out", ha! Bobby Cannavale as Danny's son and Jennifer Garner as his wife do very nicely as well. But in the end, it's mostly about Pacino and he oozes charm from start to finish. Stay for the movie's end titles, though, where it is revealed on whose real life musician this is (very loosely) based on (I admit I have never heard of him before).
"Danny Collins" finally opened this weekend here in Greater Cincinnati, playing on a handful of screens. The early evening screening where I saw this at was not attended well (and I'm being mild), which sort of surprised me, as the trailer for this has been playing regularly in theaters for quite some time. Bottom line: if you are in the mood for a perfectly pleasant rom-com with a winning cast, you cannot go wrong with "Danny Collins".