Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
gbkmmaurstad Based on the life of singer Steve Tilson.Danny Collins (Al Pacino), is an aging rocker who has lived "the life," and left a trail of wreckage in his past. Upon receiving a birthday gift from his manager, Frank (Christopher Plummer), a long lost letter John Lennon and Yoko Ono had written to him over 40 years ago, Danny begins the journey back home. His journey brings him to his son,Tom Donnelly (Bobby Cannavle), wife Samantha (Jennifer Garner), and his seven year old granddaughter.Not an in depth look at Tilson's life, just a glimpse into the last chapter. Good film for a quiet weekend. Lot of F-Bombs.
kosmasp Al Pacino really is into the role. It's not that you ever feel like he's slacking when he plays someone, but it's really refreshing to see him go all Rockstar on us. You could almost say it works on a meta level too (him being one of the greatest actors to ever grace the screen). He can also live through things he probably won't be doing in his real life and have a lot of fun with it.The character is very well written (based on a real life musician, clips during the credits, if you wonder who he is) and the story does work. There are many clichés in this, but the actors are so good, you probably won't notice. And no matter how low Al Pacinos character sinks, there is always the believe in him, the aura that he has, the screen presence. Will that all help in the end though?
Casey Collopen When I started watching this movie I thought it was some stupid, low budget movie. I was mistaken. It first portrays how (shown in many movies) superstars land up at some point in their career, with drugs and alcohol. Al Pachino played a good role in this movie and I think it's worth being one of his best.When Danny Collins gets this surprising letter from John Lennon he decides to finally come out of his drug stage and, in a way, start fresh. First by mending - actually creating a bond with his son that he has never met before who has his own family and hates his guts. There the story of this movie builds! I took the time to pay attention to this movie and I enjoyed it but I don't think all will because it was a bit long and it dragged out. None the less it was brilliant, good acting, good actors (and actresses) along with a humorous side to the movie. A well deserved 8!
Roland E. Zwick Based on an unlikely but true story, Dan Fogelman's "Danny Collins" explores the paradox of the aging rock star. When rock'n'roll began in the mid 1950s, it was, in large part, a reaction against not just old people and all they stood for but the very concept of growing old itself. Rock was consciously and specifically an art form by and for the young - indeed, a celebration of youth itself. But as the rock stars themselves began to fall victim to the inexorable march of time, they found themselves looking more and more ridiculous, desperately trying to stay relevant in a youth-obsessed culture that had already moved on without them (the expression, "Never trust anyone over thirty," popularized in the hippie era, quickly fell out of fashion once the people uttering it began to hit their 40s and 50s).Danny Collins is the prototypical has-been rock star, still clinging to the accoutrements of the roadie lifestyle despite his advanced age. He performs retrospective concerts to an audience of basically ex- groupie "golden girls" who only want to hear his old stuff, lives with a woman half his age, and spends most of his days and nights liquored up and high on cocaine. But one day, when he is informed that none other than the legendary John Lennon wrote him a personalized letter back in 1971 (one Danny never received), Collins decides to take stock of his life, putting an end to all his self- destructive behavior and making amends for relationships lost and opportunities missed. The latter include traveling to New Jersey to finally connect with the grown son he has never met, naively hoping that the embittered young man will welcome his absent father into his life after all these years, no hard feelings and no questions asked.Despite a rather trite and predictable narrative arc, "Danny Collins" rises above its clichés thanks to incisive writing by Fogelman and superb performances by Al Pacino, Annette Benning, Christopher Plummer, Bobby Cannavale, Jennifer Garner and a young actress named Giselle Eisenberg. Pacino, in particular, imbues a potentially stock character with so much subtle layering that he single-handedly makes the movie worth watching.And, oh, by the way, it goes without saying that the Lennon-laden soundtrack is a real treat - no matter one's generation or age.
