The Oscar-winning movie star is enjoying quite the renaissance of his career on the small screen.
Hunter (2020)
Pacino clearly had a great time as the lead in the Amazon comic book-style thriller in which Holocaust survivors stalk and kill Nazi Germans posing as ordinary Americans during the 1970s. the role of Meyer Offerman, the charming leader of the Nazi hunters, hides a terrible secret, and there are even more strange twists in the film regarding the evil character called the Colonel (Lena Olin, 64, Oscar nominee for Enemies: A Love Story). Taxi fans will be happy to see Simka from Latka (Carol Kane, 67, Oscar nominee and Emmy winner) as one of Meyer's hunting companions.
The Irishman (2019)
As charismatic union boss Jimmy Hoffa—killed by Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro, 76) in Martin Scorsese's more mature mob drama—Pacino earned his first Oscar nomination in 27 years, and many thought his meeting with De Niro is just as good as the classic showdown between the two in the 1995 mob movie Heat. Although it was shown in movie theaters, most people have seen The Irishman on TV or on their computer screen.
Paterno (2018)
This biopic about Penn State's Joe Paterno—the world's winningest football coach who was implicated in protecting his assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, a pedophile rapist—is a bit confusing. He can't quite decide whether to cast Paterno as a clueless naive or complicit monster in Sandusky's 16 years of crimes. Although Pacino is often accused of overacting, this paradoxical role forces him into an interestingly understated yet quietly powerful performance.
Phil Spector (2013)
Pacino received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for another biopic, this time about Phil Spector, the revolutionary record producer who created the wall of sound technique and produced the worst Beatles and Leonard Cohen records (and threatened Lennon and Cohen with a gun). Spector is in prison for shooting an actress to death, but David Mamet's clever script about the case curiously claims that it is entirely fictional and casts doubt on his guilt. Hellen Mirren, now 74, is magical as Spector's attorney, and Pacino has tons of fun as the irreverent genius with the sassy wigs, big mouth, and great gift for expletives.
You Don't Know Jack (2010)
Jack Kevorkian, known as "Dr. Death," was the controversial right-to-die physician who helped at least 130 patients end their life with his Mercitron device. He was later sent to prison; Ultimately, he helped change America's attitudes and laws about assisted suicide. Pacino plays him not as a superhero or a villain, but as a cocky, macabre, intelligent, and headstrong attention-grabber, devoted to an idealistic and surely failed cause. Pacino's riveting performance, which earned him Emmy and Globe nominations, is the draw, but the cast is incredible (John Goodman, now 67; Brenda Vaccaro, now 80; Danny Huston, now 57). The skilled director is Barry Levinson, Oscar winner of Rain Man.
