The Movie I Wish I Had Seen In The Theatre In 2005

Rating: 7/10 (27 February 2006)

Every once in awhile a movie comes along that you wish you would have seen in the theater. I am not talking about the Big Blockbuster that you were going to see and then changed your mind and did not see and wished you saw later. I am talking about the quality movie that you wished you had supported so Hollywood would make more of these movies. This movie was like Quiz Show, in that I wished I had seen it in the theater. While Quiz Show is one of the better movies I have ever seen, this is one of the better movies I did not see last year. This movie is heartfelt because in large part it is true. It is well acted in most parts because it has one of the greatest actors ever to grace the screen, who is acting rather than over-reacting. For instance, there is a moment where Al Pacino is in his house with Rene Russo and Matthew McConoughy(spelling?) and Al Pacino's daughter in the movie, and Pacino carries this difficult scene off with such a range of emotion that you can see all of his love of Shakespeare coming through because he is going through all the ranges of emotion that a character goes through in one of the Bard's plays. He is jealous. He is happy. He is proud. He is hurt. He is upset. He is uncertain how to react so he is calculating how to act. Watching Pacino's face go through these emotions made me appreciate him more as an actor, and this movie more for allowing such a range of emotion in what I thought would be some Fluffy Sports Gambling Movie that was banking on a few well-named actors to sell itself. All in all, I thought this movie ran the gamut of emotions for me and that's what I want from a movie. A solid 7 out of 10, and if I could give it a 1/2 mark, I would have actually given it a 7.5 out of 10.