Al Pacino & Russell Crowe tag team Big Tobacco in a Royal Rumble of great acting!

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2000)

Guess what? A 2 1/2 hour drama about big tobacco can actually be a lot of fun. To begin with, I ended up in the theater for only one reason - Pacino. The man is great in absolutely anything he does; I don't give a rotten rat's butt what anyone says about him being tired or frequently overacting, that's all a load of hooey. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to see Crowe take the brunt of the acting and really run with it. He was superb in this film and deserved the ocsar for best actor this year (sorry Spacey...you were good, but not that good). Pacino and Christopher Plummer both added to the mix as volatile elements in a taut and well-directed film by a truly great filmmaker who has lots more chances to shine - Michael Mann (Heat and Last Of The Mohicans are two of the best films of the decade). Hell, even Wings Hauser and Phillip Baker Hall get in on the act and deliver great performances as well. Amazing. If you haven't seen this movie yet...what in the name of Scorsese are you waiting for? Brilliant acting, brilliant cinematography, and an astonishing cast and script add up to without a doubt, the best film of the year - American Beauty, for all it's merits, was way overrated in my opinion. Though it may seem overlong, true film fans will appreciate the scope of this amazing film. Kudos to Mann and Co.