Movie: Scent of a Woman. Released: 1992. IMDB rank: 7.6. IMDB link.
Notes: A blind but large-living Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade (Al Pacino) takes a young man, Charlie (Chris O’Donnell) – who takes a job to “babysit” him – under his wing, living large and expecting Charlie to come along. Scenes worth watching:
Although it’s way over the top, seeing Frank (i.e., a “blind” Al Pacino) driving a Porsche at high speed is quite thrilling. Tension for viewers is built from the fear in Charlie’s face (he’s sitting in the passenger seat, giving instructions).
Sure it’s cheating because Pacino isn’t actually blind, but watch the ballroom tango sequence (in the video below) with him and Gabrielle Anwar (Donna) and you mightactually believe he is.
These are some of the reasons why Pacino won an Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade.
Director: Martin Brest. Categories: Comedy, Drama. Writer(s): Bo Goldman, based on a novel by Giovanni Arpino. Additional character credits: Ruggero Maccari, Dino Risi. Cast: Al Pacino, Chris O’Donnell, Gabrielle Anwar, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Runtime: 157 min.
Notes: Secret agent Jason Bourne has messed up an assignment whose scenario he setup. The result: two bullets in his back and a loss of memory. Missing two weeks, a fishing vessel picks him up at sea. Eventually, he heads through Europe, trying to piece together who he is, partly by instinct, but mostly thanks to the number of a Swiss bank account number inscribed on a cylinder implanted in his body. In the course of figuring out his identity, he fights off assassins, only to realize that his own government thinks he’s turned on them and is out to terminate him.
Director: Doug Liman. Categories: Action, Adventure, Mystery, Thriller. Writer(s): Tony Gilroy and W. Blake Herron, based on the Robert Ludlum novel. Cast: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Coooper, Julia Stiles, Brian Cox, Clive Own. Runtime: 119 min.
Notes: Johnny Depp plays Joseph Pistone, an undercover FBI agent who goes undercover for five years as “Donnie Brasco”. Al Pacino’s Lefty Ruggiero befriends him, not knowing Brasco is setting up him. Ruggiero vouches for Brasco, and later Brasco has to make a difficult decision. If he leaves the organization, Ruggiero will be killed. If he doesn’t, he’s stuck, causing a deeper rift with his wife.
Director: Mike Newell. Categories: Crime, Drama, Thriller. Writer(s): Paul Attanasio, based on the book by Joseph D. Pistone and Richard Woodley. Cast: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, James Russo, Anne Heche, Gretchen Mol, Paul Giamatti. Runtime: 127 min (147 min extended).
Movie: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. Released: 2007. IMDB rank: 7.7. IMDB link.
Notes: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Andy) and Ethan Hawke (Hank) are brothers. Andy’s addictions and embezzling lead to money troubles. Hank also has money problems in the form of an ex-wife who wants not only child support payments but money to send their child to a private school. In the meantime, Hank is carrying on with Andy’s wife (Marisa Tomei). Andy has a solution, and he bullies Hank into helping him rob their own parents’ jewelry store. On the weekend, when there’s an older employee working and guns won’t be needed. Except something goes wrong, disaster strikes, and wrong behavior is compounded with more wrong behavior from other characters. The story is partly told with a reverse timeline.
Director: Sidney Lumet. Categories: Crime, Drama, Thriller. Writer(s): Kelly Masterson. Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei, Rosemary Harris. Runtime: 117 min.
Movie: When We Were Kings. Released: 1996. IMDB rank: 7.7. IMDB link.
Notes: When We Were Kings is a documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, about two of the greatest boxers that ever lived – Ali and Foreman – and possibly the greatest boxing match ever. The match took place in 1974 in Zaire, with Foreman the champ and just a few years out of his teens, and Ali already 32. The colorful Don King is the promoter, paying each boxer $5mil apiece. The music includes people like James Brown and B.B. King, and the documentary is comprised of event footage as well as interviews with numerous well-known people from the entertainment industry.
Director: Leon Gast. Categories: Documentary, History, Sport. Writer(s): n/a Cast: Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Don King, James Brown, Spike Lee, Norman Mailer, Howard Cosell, Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston. Runtime: 89 min.
Notes: Max (Jamie Foxx) is cab driver. Vincent (Tom Cruise) is his fare, and has five stops to make. Except Cruise is a hitman, albeit charming, and he takes Foxx unwillingly for a ride, at gunpoint, while he takes care of business. The final intended victim is a key witness for an FBI case, and Max wants to save the witness without incurring Vincent’s wrath.
Director: Michael Mann. Categories: Crime, Drama, Thriller. Writer(s): Stuart Beattie. Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, Bodhi Elfman, Debi Mazar. Runtime: 120 min.
Movie: Match Point. Released: 2005. IMDB rank: 7.8. IMDB link.
Notes: Scarlett Johansson is Nola Rice, a femme fatale whose beauty leads astray a former tennis pro, who’s about to marry into a wealthy family. This Woody Allen drama – which some say borrows elements of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment – is different than his past efforts in a couple of way, including being filmed in the UK, and his characters seem younger.
Director: Woody Allen. Categories: Crime, Drama, Romance. Writer(s): Woody Allen. Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Matthew Goode, Brian Cox, Penelope Wilton, Emily Mortimer. Runtime: 124 min.
Notes: Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) is fresh out of jail and has told his parole board that he intends to stay out of trouble. He intends to keep that promise, but his old associates keep dragging him back into trouble, no matter how hard he tries. He’s also got a bit of an old reputation, and young punks keep wanting to test him.
Ultimately, Carlito gets drawn into events, either out of necessity or out of obligation. The last 20-30 minutes of the movies just keeps us guessing as to what’s going to happen. The ending will likely evoke part surprise, part “yeah, I should have seen that coming.”
Director: Brian De Palma. Categories: Action, Crime, Drama. Writer(s): David Koepp, based on the novels by Edwin Torres. Cast: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo, Luis Guzman, Viggo Mortensen. Runtime: 144 min.
Movie: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Released: 1998. IMDB rank: 8.1. IMDB link.
Notes: Violence and high body count ensue when four British working class buddies get stiffed for a half million Pounds in a crooked card game, get tangled in the confusion surrounding the theft of a pair of antique double-barrelled shotguns, and decide to rob a gang planning to rob drug growers.
Director: Guy Ritchie. Categories: Comedy, Crime, Thriller. Writer(s): Guy Ritchie. Cast: Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran. Runtime: 107 min (120 min director’s cut).
Notes: Five criminals end up in a police lineup, getting questioned about what they know about legendary crime lord Keyser Soze. Who is Soze? Is he even real, or just a legend? If he is real, why is he setting these five criminals up? The Usual Suspects won two Oscars, including a Best Actor for Kevin Spacey as Verbal Kint, one of the criminals.
Director: Bryan Singer. Categories: Crime, Drama, Thriller. Writer(s): Christopher McQuarrie. Cast: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite, Giancarlo Esposito. Runtime: 106 min.
