This was the movie of the night tonight, Danny Collins, a feel good/tearjerker sort of movie. Al Pacino stars as Danny Collins a sort of composite of larger-than-life, badly behaving rocks stars of the late ’60’s. At this point, 40 years into his career, Collins is still living the life, coked-up, drinking to excess, living in a chic mansion with his way-too-young girlfriend and possible next wife (if she signs the pre-nup). He has his own jet, tour bus and supercar, which he drives way too fast. He’s still popular on tour but his audience is as old as he is. His manager Frank (Christopher Plummer) keeps him on schedule, makes sure he shows up for dates and is an old trusted friend. Things change when Frank discovers a letter, written in 1971 by John Lennon intended for, but never delivered, to Collins. Lennon’s letter hits Collins like a dagger, reminding him of just how much of an over-the-top self-parody he has become and bringing home the fact that he hasn’t actually written anything new in 30 years. He’s been living on past glory. Collins, being a guy completely driven by impulse, realizes how shallow and disconnected his life is. He ditches his tour and flies to New Jersey, rents a suite in a hotel and sets out to locate a son he never knew, the result of a dalliance with a groupie.
What he finds is a pregnant mom, Samantha (Jennifer Garner), a young granddaughter and a son, Tom (Bobby Cannavale) who wants nothing to do with Danny who was never involved in his life. Their daughter, a first grader, is severely hyperactive (you might wonder where THAT gene came from) and needs help that the family can’t afford. In a startling turn of events, it is revealed that Tom (the son) has a rare and deadly form of leukemia. Danny barges into the situation, pays an exclusive school to help the girl and makes sure that Tom gets to an elite clinic that might be able to help him. The focus of the rest of the film is Danny trying, in his bumbling, backsliding way to convince the family that he really is sincere, that he can help and that there is a reason why they would want to be in touch with him other than his money. He is an erratic, undependable pain in the ass but also a sincere guy with good intentions he wants to use his money to help. His family is very distrustful of him but really in need. In addition, Danny has a crush on the manger of the hotel where he is living.
You can imagine that a plot like this has lots of built-in angst and drama and you wouldn’t be wrong. Few actors can be as loud and over-the-top as Pacino. Sometimes this doesn’t work, but in this case, the role is made for him; he scarcely needs to act. Collins IS a loud mouthed, hyperactive guy, not a stretch for Pacino at all. His son Tom is the movie stereotype of a New Jersey lunk, a guy with a big accent, but also a big heart, a perfect fit for Bobby Cannavale. It follows that his wife Samantha is a sweet counterpart to lunky Tom. She is perfectly cast with Jennifer Garner. Nothing about this plot will come as much of a surprise. It’s a tear jerker sometimes, a comedy at other times and has romantic teases between Danny and the hotel manager (Annette Benning). I wasn’t expecting great cinema. I didn’t get that, but I did get a satisfying and enjoyable movie, with a nice story and decent acting and production. It was supposed to be set in Los Angeles, New Jersey and New York, but looked a lot like it was all Los Angeles (at least there were no palm trees in New Jersey)…not that this mattered very much. If you’re in the mood for something like this, it’s quite enjoyable.
