December 2, 2024

The Al Pacino Best Evidence True-Crime Résumé Percentage

the true crime that's worth your time

Working my way through a truly embarrassing backlog of magazines -- like, 2023 coverlines on a few of them -- I only last week came across the excerpt from Al Pacino's memoir, "Early Scenes," in an August issue of The New Yorker. He and his editor did a great job fitting it into TNY's hallowed pages while keeping Pacino's voice strong; it's a fun read.

Then I remembered that ol' Patch had been kicking around on my future BET-CRP list for ages. Let's see how high he scores on the Best Evidence True-Crime Résumé Percentage, shall we? As always, I guess beforehand where the number will come in, and I'm betting Pacino's is pretty high, but not DiCaprio high -- so, around 40 percent.

Need a refresher on how we score these? Here you go...and here we go.

• N.Y.P.D. S02.E05, "A Deadly Circle of Violence" (1968). It's tempting to give Pacino's very first IMDb entry a point based on the episode's plot summary -- "Militant students blame a southerner for the bombing of a black church" -- but aside from the miserable fact that this could be based on any number of IRL cases, I can't justify it here: 0

• The Panic In Needle Park (1971). The provenance here is somewhat complex; the film, scripted by the true-crime-adjacent Didion-Dunnes, is based on a novel by James Mills, but Mills's novel is set in a real place, and based on his mid-sixties reporting on real people for Life Magazine. We can consider it "true crime," then, I think, although I wouldn't say Pacino qualifies for "name figure" points, and it attracted more controversy than awards attention. But is it a hall-of-fame property? I don't know. I think it's in various smaller canons -- New York City cinema -- but I wouldn't say it's hall-of-fame true crime. Let's leave it at: 1

• The Godfather (1972). Okay sooooo it's fiction, but it's also evident that Mario Puzo threw a bunch of NYC gangster myth into the blender and that Francis Ford Coppola ran with that. It's also received wisdom that IRL made guys revere the films, so I have zero problem classifying them all as docudramae of a sort. I can't go as far as "Pacino plays 'name figure' Bill Bonanno," but he'll pick up awards and HoF points: 3

• Serpico (1973). At first, this one looks like a cinch to run the table -- it's a real guy, Pacino plays the title role, and he won a Globe for doing it. But is it a hall-of-fame property, in the genre or elsewhere? Pacino's performance is a hall-of-famer; you're watching the birth of a legend. And we all know what the name means and symbolizes, half a century later. But the rest of the movie is overrated and tedious IIRC. I'll hear arguments, but for now I'm capping it at: 4

• The Godfather II (1974). As before: 3

• Dog Day Afternoon (1975). This will run the table. You could argue that the story only has a "name figure" because of Pacino's performance, but I don't need to split that hair. ...Trivia alert! I lived for years in a house around the corner from where they shot the bank scenes. I think you can see my hairstylist in this YouTube review of the film's shooting locations: 5

• Cruising (1980). I didn't know that the film had post-release crime connections, and I wish I still didn't know that, ugh. No eligible points, either: 0

• Scarface (1983). Pretend I made a joke about felony overpraise here, I guess; I had assumed Tony Montana had stronger basis in a real-life figure, but "1929 novel which inspired original '30s film" won't cut it: 0

• The Godfather III (1990). Pacino loses a point in the third installment, as it's not considered great except in disappointment levels. I saw G3 in the theater. The friends on each side of me fell asleep: 2

• Frankie & Johnny (1991). Nothing doing here, but it is a verité slice of Dinkins-era NYC life, and it does have things to say about complex trauma and post-carceral re-integration. You could also argue that the original pop song is a murder ballad. ...Yeah yeah, I know, it's in the neighborhood but it shouldn't ring the bell: 0

• Heat (1995). I must have known this classic was based on real events/a real guy, but forgotten it, and now I can't wait to rewatch. Does Pacino's role qualify as a "name figure"? I don't think it does -- but I've got no kick with calling this a hall-of-famer, even if contemporary awards bodies overlooked it: 2

• Donnie Brasco (1997). A real guy, although Pacino isn't in the title role, and didn't get a ton of awards attention as Lefty. I agree it feels low, but: 1

• The Insider (1999). Corporate crime counts! (Should probably count double, eh?) And Pacino is playing a name, although Russell Crowe got all the awards attention, and you don't hear this one talked about much anymore: 3

• Angels In America (2003). ...jfc, it feels like that series just came out in, like, 2021. Heightened though this version is, Roy Cohn was real, and a bold-type piece of shit; Pacino won an Emmy and a Globe; and the original play/s and this iteration serve as an indictment of the Reagan administration's (non-)handling of the AIDS epidemic: 5

• You Don't Know Jack (2010). Maybe bring that punny title up on charges, if the statute of limitations hasn't expired? Jack Kevorkian was of course an IRL figure, whose end-of-life work brought him into repeated contact with the criminal-justice system. YDKJ was a well-regarded project that got Pacino a Globe. Not a hall-of-famer IMO, but still: 4

• Phil Spector (2013). One of those properties that burned hot, then got memory-holed after everyone got tired of meme-ing the wigs. Pacino did get a few nominations for the part, though: 4

• The Pirates of Somalia (2017). Stars Evan Peters as journalist Jay Bahadur, who embedded himself with the titular pirates: 1

• Paterno (2018). Did this seem to kind of come and go without much fanfare? Perhaps we had case fatigue by the time it came out, but Pacino clears a handful of points for it, since the logline of the TV movie specifically mentions the abuse "scandal" (...uch); I may even have watched it and have no recollection of it: 3

• Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019). We have two neighborhood plays here, whether we count ensemble nominations as "awards attention" (I'm leaning no) and whether we can deem OUaTiH a hall-of-famer only five years later. I know what Eve's going to say...and I agree: 2

• The Irishman (2019). Plenty of awards attention for this true story, in which Pacino plays Jimmy Hoffa. More infamous than HOF-worthy, however: 4

• American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally (2021). First I've heard of this project, although said traitor's attorney's name, James J. Laughlin, does ring a bell -- and that's who Pacino plays here. Weird little flick co-starring Mitch Pileggi, of all people: 3

• House Of Gucci (2021). Talk about your "everywhere and then nowhere" projects! No awards attention for Pacino, who came off comparatively restrained here thanks to Jared Leto Boyardee-ing all over the lot (that isn't a complaint; I enjoyed the...whatever it was he was doing): 1

• Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness (2024). N...ot sure what to do here; this Johnny Depp-helmed pic came out in Italy a couple weeks back, and is about 72 hours in the life of Amadeo Modigliani, who did exist and evidently was fleeing police? Pacino plays Maurice Gangnat, a French art collector and the subject of a Renoir portrait...? Feels like there's a point here somewhere, so: 1

• ...and then there's the "upcoming" section of Pacino's IMDb entry. Another eight projects in various phases of development, and of those, we can assign points for

  • Assassination (yes, "that one"; unclear who Pacino is playing, so while it could be Sam Giancana, as of this writing it's only good for: 1)

  • Captivated (about a Calabrian mob boss; Pacino is the present-day or "older" version?: 1)

  • Killing Castro (I assume this is a true story: 1)

  • and maaaaybe that one about the exorcism, but is it still fraud if everyone involved believes Satan is in fact getting cast out?

So, depending on how you count the future projects, it's either 65 entries and 52 points; or 73 entries and 55 points. Either way, I massively underestimated the percentage here, which is either a flat 80 percent or, if you count upcoming projects, 75.3 percent (which will likely tick up higher in a couple years depending on the roles, and the films' quality). How did I miss so badly?

It's not because I counted the Godfathers (kicking those out still leaves it at 67.6 percent). More likely it's that I forgot the Kevorkian project; Angels in America; and most of the shit he did in the teens, tbh.

In any event, even with more conservative arithmetic, this is the highest score I've seen since I started doing these...and I can't wait to see how De Niro stacks up by comparison. — SDB