Danny Collins 2015

Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press: A redemption story doesn't always need to show the blood. Danny Collins gets the point across without pretention. Its closing scene, alone, is worth the price of admission. Read more

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: Legendary as Al Pacino's skills are, he wouldn't be the first actor I'd cast to play a 70ish pop star who still fills mid-sized arenas some 40 years after he last charted a hit single. Yet Al Pacino sells the heck out of his performance as Danny Collins. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: There's a kind of modest American comedy that's so keenly done that you don't bother resisting. All the details feel exactly right for that particular story and those characters. It just works. Right away, you can tell that Danny Collins is working. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: "Danny Collins'' is certainly watchable, but don't go expecting much in the way of surprises. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Danny Collins is nothing to write home about, but it kept me entertained without too much guilt, and I didn't wince. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: A familiar late-in-life redemption narrative, made surprisingly palatable by Pacino's winning comic bravado, a superb supporting cast, and currents of real feeling that cut through the expected bromides about the emptiness of fortune and fame. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: The directorial debut of Dan Fogelman, writer of Crazy, Stupid, Love and Last Vegas, the movie combines the compulsive sub-plotting of the former with the retirement-age asides of the latter. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: You can guess where things are leading, but only to a point. Fogelman tosses in some mild surprises along the way, some more effective than others. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: So shameless is this movie's urge to batter you into laughter and tears that you give in, exhausted and maybe even a little grateful. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: I can imagine a lot of good movies developing from this premise, but as fictionalized by screenwriter Dan Fogelman, it becomes yet another soggy tale of father-son healing. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: There's a delayed-secret hitch in the narrative that hijacks the movie, for better or worse. You don't have to believe any of it to enjoy a lot of it, however. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The movie becomes, perhaps inadvertently, a celebration of selling out. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: What Fogelman doesn't quite achieve as screenwriter at the start of the film he makes up for in his directorial debut. He supports wonderfully the affable allure of his attuned cast. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Danny Collins is the cinematic equivalent of a well-sung easy rock tune, enjoyably light and bouncy, with some darker notes hidden within the chords. Read more

Joe McGovern, Entertainment Weekly: A cast of old pros (Christopher Plummer, Annette Bening, Bobby Cannavale, Jennifer Garner) and a touching final scene elevate the material just enough to redeem it. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: The top-notch cast makes this Bleecker Street release almost tolerable, but the spectacle of a dissolute hedonist suddenly acquiring a heart and a conscience late in life is shamelessly, and shamefully, contrived in its emotional trajectory. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: A redemption movie in the skeptical key of Jerry Maguire with dozens of small, perfect moments Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Pacino's exuberance rescues Dan Fogelman's directing debut from the schematic snares in Fogelman's script. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: Al Pacino as a jaded, aging rocker re-juiced by a road trip to settle accounts with himself and his long-lost family? By all means roll your eyes - the star has one brow goofily raised himself - but don't give up on Danny Collins. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: This uneven but ultimately sweet comedy-drama takes full advantage of Pacino's larger-than-life persona (think "Glengarry Glen Ross," "Donnie Brasco," "The Insider") and his ability to add in lovely grace notes. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: [A] shameless piece of boomer bait, which peddles the highly questionable notion that it's never too late to get back to where you once belonged. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Comedy, pathos, and some schmaltzy couplets about the changing seasons follow forthwith. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Danny Collins has no intention of breaking new ground. But Pacino and a top cast make it mean something. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Like its hero, the movie is flawed, but hard to resist. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: There's a nice fluidity and freedom to writer-director Dan Fogelman's storytelling, so things never become predictable. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: How bad could a movie be that features talent as serious as Al Pacino, Annette Bening, Christopher Plummer, Bobby Cannavale and Jennifer Garner? This bad, alas. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The lesson of this likable little movie is that it's never too late to reclaim your integrity. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: One of the things that partly excuses the movie's mush is that it's a kind of musical. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: It's never dull to watch pros like Pacino, Bening, Plummer, Garner and Cannavale interact - this is dream casting - and the film makes the most of that, along with a pleasingly comprehensive Lennon soundtrack. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Writer-director Dan Fogelman seems as torn as Danny is between his artistic impulses and his hard-wired attraction to bland, audience-friendly material. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: You think you know where this is going, but it's a pleasure to see Dan Fogelman slow down the flow for his two erstwhile Ricky Romas, kicking around life's harsh turns with tenderness. Read more

Liz Braun, Toronto Sun: For his directorial debut, Fogelman puts all the right people together, and what's more, gets a performance out of Pacino that's one of his best-ever comic turns. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Though occasionally contrived, in its more low-key, honest moments, Danny Collins rings out with emotional resonance. Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: "Danny Collins," like its central character, has a good heart, and sometimes that's enough. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Before the action comes a cheerfully coy announcement: "The following is based on a kind of true story a little bit." In fact, the story is not only true, but proves to be a kind of swell idea for a fiction film. Read more