Even the greatest actors can fall into a creative rut, and Al Pacino has been in desperate need of a meaty role to bounce back into for awhile. Fortunately, he was met with more than one opportunity to do just that, and he arrived at the Venice Film Festival with two dramatic projects. One was David Gordon Green's Manglehorn, which Pacino is already earning raves for, and the other was the romantic comedy The Humbling, a passion project he's been developing based on the Philip Roth novel.
Directed by Barry Levinson (Rain Man) and co-starring Greta Gerwig, the slightly-meta film has Pacino as an aging Broadway star in the midst of a professional and personal crisis. After an accident puts him on the sidelines, he strikes up a romantic relationship with a much younger woman who turns out to be the daughter of a friend, and also a lesbian.
Roth received some of the harshest criticism of his career for The Humbling and early reviews of the film have been pretty unkind. The trailer does look a little uneven and talky, although it's good to see Pacino getting energized for a role again. The Humbling also features a cast of stage and screen veterans including Dianne Wiest, Charles Grodin, Mandy Patinkin, Kyra Sedgewick, Nina Arianda, and Dan Hedaya. While it doesn't have a firm release date yet 2015 is likely when it will open.
The Humbling - Official Trailer (2014) Al Pacino by MovieSpawn
