Manglehorn 2015

Sara Stewart, New York Post: The tone and focus of David Gordon Green's "Manglehorn" careens around so much it's hard not to end up as irritable as its title character. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: A dull, pretentious trifle from director David Gordon Green with Al Pacino in another of his late-career mishaps that does nothing to elevate his fading film status. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: A fragile, smaller-than-life portrait. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Green demonstrates no control over his star, who dodders through the movie in a sleepy daze. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: As the film goes along ... it starts getting goofier, and not in a good way. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: [Green] gives Pacino a lot to work with here, and at times it pays off in spades. Read more

Mark Feeney, Boston Globe: This is definitely a lonely-man-talking-to-his-cat movie. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: I spent most of the movie admiring Pacino's discipline in the role instead of believing he was the character. Read more

Joe McGovern, Entertainment Weekly: The script would be sharper without subplots about returned love letters and the locksmith's glib son, yet the film is worth it for Pacino, especially in his scenes with a bank teller played by the great Holly Hunter. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: The mix of limpid naturalism and lyricism that has often distinguished David Gordon Green's indie films slides into sentimentality -- or worse yet, whimsy -- in Manglehorn. Read more

Michael Rechtshaffen, Los Angeles Times: The quirky visual poetry eventually proceeds to work its magic, paving the way for an unexpected final act that cracks open a long-shuttered door on the life of a man who was, in his own words, "losing hope in tomorrow." Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: David Gordon Green directs two very different kinds of movies, and I'm beginning to realize I don't much like either of them. Read more

Katherine Pushkar, New York Daily News: Al Pacino's pathetic is really, really pathetic. Even with a halfhearted drawl and in an uneventful story. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: In the hands of Mr. Pacino, a story of self-realization has a bit more groove in its step than it usually does (and shades of darker moods). Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: If Manglehorn is to be remembered at all, it shall be for the excruciating first date that its title character goes on with a chirpy bank clerk he has long been chatting up. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: Pacino easily captures the character's longtime frustration, though it's Holly Hunter who supplies the story's heartbreak. Read more

David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle: At least we get Pacino and Hunter. We may not understand why this story appealed to them, except for the fact that it gave them a chance to work together. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: The low-key, dialed-down acting that Green has elicited from the frequently hammy Pacino - on the heels of Nicolas Cage's sensitive turn in Green's Joe - establishes the filmmaker as the go-to sponsor for members of Overactors Anonymous. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: At the center of it is Pacino, totally authentic among Green's amateur actors in this rough-around-the-edges world of beaten-up bars and restaurants with crappy plastic furniture. Now, someone give the man a more decent film. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: There's a powerful austerity to Manglehorn the man's tale that Manglehorn the film itself - well-acted and touching though it often is - doesn't quite match. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Sure, there's an undeniable pleasure from watching Pacino and Hunter work the screen, but the syrupy, symbol-heavy script by first-time feature writer Paul Logan is weighed down further by cliches and false notes. Read more