Worth Half The Price

RATING: C

Starring: Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo, Armand Assante, Jeremy Piven. Music by Christophe Beck, Production Designer Tom Southwell, Editor Glen Scantlebury, Director of Photography Conrad W. Hall, Producer Jay Cohen, Executive Producers Dan Gilroy and Rene Russo, Executive Producers Guy McElwaine and David C. Robinson, Written by Dan Gilroy, Produced by James G. Robinson, Directed by D.J. Caruso.

Rated R, Running Time 122 mins., 2.39 to 1 Anamorphic Scope Aspect Ratio.

From classic features like the “Godfather” series and “Scarface” to genre favorites “Carlito’s Way” and “Heat”, Al Pacino has become an icon in American cinema. But when was the last time we saw him play a character in a film and not, well….Al Pacino? I don’t mean the real Al Pacino that exists off screen; I’m referring to the scenery chewing persona he’s created on camera. We’ve reached a point as an audience where a Pacino feature has become nothing more than an opportunity to hear this tiny man yell, scream and upstage his co-stars for two hours. There have been a few standout performances over the years, most recently his role as Roy Cohn in Mike Nichols’s “Angels in America”, the mild-mannered director in “Simone” and the guilt ridden cop of “Insomnia.” Even Pacino’s miscast role as Shylock in last year’s “The Merchant of Venice” was a performance with a degree of gravity to it. Nevertheless the majority of his work in recent years consists of the threat filled energy he’s known for. That doesn’t mean he fails to entertain, on the contrary. Some of Pacino’s best work was Pacino playing Pacino, including his documentary “Looking for Richard” where he literally played himself. It would seem fresh and easy to forgive if the stories he chose to play in were more interesting.

“Two for the Money” marks the third feature for director D.J. Caruso and although it’s a mediocre effort, it’s a major improvement over last year’s “Taking Lives” undoubtedly the worst film of 2004. Losing his shot at professional glory after a debilitating injury, football player Brandon Lang (Matthew McConaughey) finds himself working long hours and for little pay as a 900 number operator in Las Vegas. Graduating to a few extra bucks an hour by working the betting hotline, Brandon discovers he has a real talent for picking winners because of his personal experience as an athlete. His insight attracts the attention of the big man himself Walter Abrams (Pacino), owner of a successful sports consulting agency who offers him the chance to start a new life in the Big Apple. Walter is a recovering gambling addict who now channels his energies into his business and a weekly television show where he gives away sports picks for free. He sets Brandon up with a new apartment, a new job and even a new identity: John Anthony – the type of name that represents confidence, unlike plain old Brandon Lang.

They say never trust a man with two first names, but Brandon wins over not only Walter, but his clients and eventually his wife Toni (Rene Russo), a beauty salon owner. Toni like Walter is recovering from her own addiction: drugs, but knows her husband well enough to see that he could ruin a fresh face like Brandon’s. As Brandon’s popularity as a sports odd-maker grows Walter sees him as his knight in shining armor. “All this guy does is work-out and pick winners,” Walter tells his wife of the buff Brandon, who begins to take an interest in him of her own that he picks up on. Brandon’s accuracy eventually reaches 80 percent, attracting the interest of billionaire better Armand Assante and making Walter millions on commission. But the king of the hill can only go down and soon Brandon goes from “The Million Dollar Man with the Billion Dollar Plan” to a broken individual who has put too much faith in himself. As he begins to slip and stumble, so does Walter, whose demons and old habits begin to resurface and is ever ready to ride his protégé to the ground.

“Two for the Money” is ultimately about loss of innocence due to corruption and the struggle against addiction. Pacino and Russo become more interesting as the lives of their characters are steered into a downfall, but sadly McConaughey’s arc is rather flat. In fact is best moments either involve a one night stand with Jaime King or when an angry client exacts revenge by urinating on him. His two dimensional role is not his fault, it’s just that writer Dan Gilroy’s (real life husband of Russo) script is pretty weak and fails to focus on the devastation of losing. Pacino’s performance is particularly effective when he begins to let some of his demons surface, but otherwise he’s once again playing himself and stealing scenes. Whether that is due to a weak script or weak directing on D.J. Caruso’s part is anyone’s guess, but every once in a while it would be interesting to see someone perform toe to toe with Pacino. That doesn’t mean the man doesn’t have his moments, particularly a scene where Pacino takes McConaughey to an AA meeting, gives an impassioned speech, then hands out his business card after they recognize him as a sports advisor. Scenes like that are what make Al Pacino so popular and if you want to see an entire movie of those, this is it. For those looking for more of the dramatic and nuanced performances that put him on the map, you may have to wait a while.