{"id":1271,"date":"2017-09-06T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T13:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.silvercentury.org\/2017\/09\/danny-collins\/"},"modified":"2018-06-30T10:00:33","modified_gmt":"2018-06-30T14:00:33","slug":"danny-collins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/2017\/09\/danny-collins\/","title":{"rendered":"Danny Collins"},"content":{"rendered":"

2015, USA, 106 min.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The winning, therapeutic Danny Collins<\/em> teaches us something: namely, that the best things in a long life are usually the least glamorous. Al Pacino portrays the title character\u2014an amalgam of Neil Diamond and Rod Stewart\u2014who long ago abandoned creative integrity for pop-star prancing and all of its goodies\u2014such as a much-younger fianc\u00e9e, who doesn\u2019t love him, and a mansion with an elevator. When Danny\u2019s manager and best friend (Christopher Plummer, in another fine performance) gives him his birthday gift\u2014a letter John Lennon wrote to a young, confused Danny\u2014the star is struck. What if he had gotten that letter four decades ago?<\/p>\n

The letter initiates a late-life crisis for Danny, who realizes that things matter beyond playing the hits to an aging crowd. (His disdain for the audience is Fogelman\u2019s way of showing Danny\u2019s shallowness. He can\u2019t appreciate loyalty\u2014even from the people who allow him his success.) He craves things that are real, or his version of them. So he boards a private jet for New Jersey, moves a Steinway into his room at the Hilton and sets out to write his own songs. <\/p>\n

The Garden State provides more than the setting for an artistic rebirth. He wants to reconnect with the son he abandoned. Tom (Bobby Cannavale) is an honest-to-goodness adult with a lousy job, a family and a mortgage. The reunion goes poorly, much to Danny\u2019s surprise. Elevated by his new-found bravery, he expected an instant happy ending. Tom, however, has little use for Danny, who breezes into his suburban abode dressed like he\u2019s just finished a set at the Golden Nugget.  Danny expects to waltz in, elevated by his seniority, success and bold gestures. His happy ending is far from guaranteed.<\/p>\n

Danny\u2019s attempts at reconciliation are guided more by money than kindness. He gets close to his daughter-in-law (Jennifer Garner) and granddaughter (Giselle Eisenberg), even getting the little tyke into a prestigious New York City school that can properly handle her ADHD. Afterward, he takes the kid on a shopping spree at Toys \u201cR\u201d Us. In a giant tour bus that features Danny\u2019s car-salesman glare.<\/p>\n

Director-writer Dan Fogelman doesn\u2019t immediately give Danny the closure he craves. Neither do any of the characters. The lack of sugarcoating is refreshing. We like Tom for not making things easy for his father; this, in turn, connects us to Danny. Pacino is what draws us in. He brings so much warmth and depth to this peacock of a role. As the great actor has gotten older, the menacing confidence that defined his classic, 1970s work has given way to a confident skittishness. When he\u2019s buttering up the hotel manager, played by Annette Bening\u2014whose work here is so natural and understated she could be anybody\u2019s friend\u2014you also sense the desperation. Danny is in a whole new world, and he has to figure out how to make amends before the curtain falls.<\/p>\n

We have all felt that desperation, and the sting when we can\u2019t get it right. Deeply flawed and late to the game, Danny is finally learning how to be human. Danny Collins <\/em>boasts surprising depth to go with its tenderness. Fogelman perfectly captures one of aging\u2019s least understood truths: wisdom and clarity don\u2019t automatically accumulate with each passing year. You still have to work for them\u2014and, yes, it is totally worth it. If we are lucky, we can even get the chance to be our own kind of rock star.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Al Pacino portrays the title character, who long ago abandoned creative integrity for pop-star prancing and all of its goodies\u2014such as a much-younger fianc\u00e9e, who doesn\u2019t love him, and a mansion with an elevator.<\/p>\n

Read more Danny Collins<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

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