Feature Spotlight

Spotlight On: The Career of Al Pacino

by Maggie Van Ostrand (maggie@filmschoolrejects.com)

Al Pacino is debatably regarded as the finest American actor of his time. He has been lauded by critics and fans alike for his nuanced portrayals of Michael Corleone in the Godfather Trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Arthur Kirkland in And Justice for All, the title role in Serpico, and my personal favorite, Sonny Wortzik in Dog Day Afternoon.

Pacino’s characters have many of the most memorable lines in motion picture history, largely due to his massive talent. What may be a good line becomes an iconic one when interpreted by Pacino, whose characters have been frequently quoted by fans for decades.

To discuss just a few, beginning with Dog Day (a true story): Pacino, as real-life would-be bank robber and world-class loser Sonny Wortzik, angrily paces outside the Brooklyn bank in a standoff with the cops. The incident gets picked up by TV news and becomes a media circus. Trying to incite a mob of onlookers to support him, Sonny invokes the name of an infamous prison riot at Attica where cops refused to negotiate with prisoners, killing many innocent people in a counterstrike. Sonny stomps up and down the sidewalk, rifle in hand, first chanting then shouting the name Attica! At-tic-a! Pacino rouses the audience to cry out At-tic-a! along with Sonny. The character Pacino created has in turn created a seminal moment in movies.

Charles Laughton said of this performance “[Pacino] is like a grenade with the pin just removed and it’s about to explode.”

Pacino’s own favorite of his films, Scarface, has a lot of quotable lines, the most classic of which is probably Tony Montana’s cocaine-fueled taunt to would-be assassins as he whips out his machine gun, “Say hello to my li’l fren.” Pacino delivers that line like the bullets his little friend is spraying over his attackers.

And Justice For All: Pacino is disillusioned defense lawyer Arthur Kirkland, whose idealism has become frustration with the criminal justice system. Saliva spews from his mouth as he screams at the corrupt judge who has just cited him for being out of order, “You’re out of order!!! You’re out of order!!” We all can identify with his rage finally breaking free. “You’re out of order!!!” Pacino spoke the truth we’re all thinking, that we all want to shout. He does it for us.

Pacino is one of the few superstars who so becomes the character, you forget it’s acting. People talk about Sonny, Tony, or Michael Corleone as though they’re real, not performances. That’s how good Pacino is in the roles he’s chosen to play. But what about the ones he turned down?

Pacino said no to some big ones like Star Wars (Han Solo) (1977), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Apocalypse Now! (1979), Pretty Woman (1990), and Crimson Tide (1995).

The actor who benefited most from Pacino’s thanks-but-no-thanks to these film offers, is Dustin Hoffman who got to play three of his best-known roles because Pacino turned them down: Midnight Cowboy (1969), Marathon Man (1976) and his Oscar-winner, Kramer vs Kramer (1979). (Had Pacino continued to turn down Dog Day Afternoon as he threatened to do several times, the role would have gone to Hoffman.)

Luckily, the actors like Hoffman who did accept those turned-down roles were excellent. One can only wonder how the parts would’ve been if Pacino had said yes.