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Film credit

Al Pacino

Also referred to as Pacino

Stats

Episodes featuring their films
16
Movies in this archive
17

Rewatchables episodes featuring Al Pacino’s films

Two for the Money

2005 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan · Cousin Sal

Aired November 25, 2025

The Insider

1999 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan · Sean Fennessey

Aired January 30, 2024

Sea of Love

1989 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan · Wosny Lambre

Aired December 5, 2023

Cruising

1980 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan · Wesley Morris

Aired November 8, 2022

Heat

1995 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan · Michael Mann

Aired November 2, 2021

Heat

1995 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan

Aired January 24, 2020

Displaying episodes 1 - 12 of 16 in total

Mentioned in discussions

Glengarry Glen Ross

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Periodic Netflix remakes; live television charity event; additional scenes; The Wire cast

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:47Read transcript
  • A crypto-world reset is joked about as a potential 10-episode Netflix series. — Chris Ryan
  • A Netflix version every five years is proposed after seeing David Harbour play Williamson opposite Pacino’s stage Levene. — Chris Ryan
  • Live televised classic plays with major casts could become annual events or charity fundraisers, following Playhouse 90, Clooney’s Fail Safe and live sitcom recreations. — Sean Fennessey
  • A longer version is difficult to imagine given the compressed writing, but ten additional deleted scenes would be eagerly welcomed. — Chris Ryan
  • An all-Black cast could reuse The Wire’s actors, specifically Wood Harris and Idris, whose coded dialogue and burdened masculinity already resemble Mamet. — Sean Fennessey
Glengarry Glen Ross

Picking Nits

Chicago setting versus New York appearance

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:29Read transcript
  • The New York setting feels inconsistent with a deeply Chicago play and dialogue. — Sean Fennessey
  • New York phones, subways and Pacino’s manner clash with Moss’s Chicago references to Western and a Wisconsin getaway. — Chris Ryan
  • The Chicago-versus-New York inconsistency is reiterated as noticeable but not especially bothersome. — Chris Ryan
Glengarry Glen Ross

Apex Mountain

David Mamet on screen; real estate sales on screen

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:46:54Read transcript
  • Pacino’s 1992 Oscar and enduring Roma performance make a peak case, but the Godfather–Serpico–Dog Day Afternoon run supports multiple possible peaks rather than a settled choice. — Chris Ryan
  • Mamet on screen receives an affirmative choice. — Sean Fennessey
  • Mamet’s own directing peak is separately located around The Spanish Prisoner, State and Main and Heist, with Spartan viewed as a troubling turn; Foley is considered the better visual match here. — Sean Fennessey
  • Real-estate sales on screen receives an affirmative choice. — Chris Ryan
  • The broader salesman question raises Mad Men but distinguishes advertising from real estate. — Chris Ryan
  • Tommy Boy is another salesman contender, with its business corrected from sporting goods to brake pads. — Chris Ryan
  • Moneyball is another sales-film comparison because unhappy men sell the idea of advanced analytics; no all-sales winner is settled. — Sean Fennessey
Glengarry Glen Ross

Half-Assed Internet Research

Stage origins; casting; awards; Baldwin rehearsal; cars; ensemble; desk direction; off-day visits; possible Rio Rancho appreciation

In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:00Read transcript
  • Pacino admired Foley’s At Close Range and wanted to adapt Mamet’s Pulitzer-winning play with him; Lemmon reportedly called this his greatest ensemble. — Chris Ryan
  • Baldwin’s speech was absent from the original play and became widely replayed and parodied, including on Saturday Night Live. — Sean Fennessey
  • The original stage ensemble is recalled as Mantegna, J.T. Walsh, Robert Prosky as Levene and James Tolkan as Moss; Tolkan and Harris embody the angry bald-man archetype. — Sean Fennessey
  • Arkin was reportedly slowest to sign because Aaronow mainly suffers humiliation; the discussion corrects his status at the time from Oscar winner to nominee. — Sean Fennessey
  • The ensemble is said to have accumulated 29 Oscar nominations, with surprisingly few for this film. — Sean Fennessey
  • Spacey was recruited from theater work associated with Lemmon and a Pacino–Foley visit to see him perform; the adaptation took nearly a decade and several cast iterations. — Chris Ryan
  • Mamet reportedly considers this a favorite adaptation; the interiors work as strengths rather than merely stretching a play outdoors. — Chris Ryan
  • Foley reportedly said Lemmon badly wanted a nomination; the earlier winning role is corrected from Missing to Save the Tiger. — Sean Fennessey
  • Foley’s oral-history account says Baldwin arrived with the speech memorized and performed it perfectly in a single rehearsal, leaving nothing to direct. — Chris Ryan
  • An AutoWeek article is cited for the cars: Blake’s 850, Williamson’s Pontiac Bonneville, Levene’s deteriorating ten-year-old car and Roma’s Buick Riviera. — Chris Ryan
  • Lemmon’s greatest-ensemble statement is explicitly said to have been watched in a video rather than merely read secondhand. — Chris Ryan
  • Roma’s desk uniquely faces away from Williamson’s office; production design makes the room feel worn by years of careless occupants. — Chris Ryan
  • Actors reportedly visited on days off to watch their colleagues work. — Chris Ryan
  • Rio Rancho may have become a profitable investment as an Albuquerque suburb, but the location match and calculations are explicitly unverified. — Chris Ryan
Glengarry Glen Ross

Recasting Couch

Leo as Roma; Phoenix as Moss; Farrell as Blake; Affleck as Aaronow; Oldman or Pacino as Levene; Jenkins and Simmons

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:41Read transcript
Glengarry Glen Ross

Casting What-Ifs

Baldwin as Roma; Mantegna; Willis and De Niro rumors

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:33Read transcript
  • Timmerman reportedly urged consideration of Baldwin’s nasty Miami Blues energy rather than his heroic Hunt for Red October image; his Miami Blues role is corrected from dirty cop to criminal. — Sean Fennessey
  • Baldwin wanted first refusal on Roma if Pacino’s schedule prevented his long-planned participation; otherwise he would take another role. — Chris Ryan
  • Baldwin could be an excellent Roma but his looks and stature might make remaining in that low-status office less credible than Pacino’s version. — Sean Fennessey
  • Mantegna originated Roma and won a Tony, but Mamet bluntly told him the film role would likely go to Pacino; House of Games and Things Change were written for him instead. — Sean Fennessey
  • Willis and De Niro were rumored as interested, with no clear roles attached. — Chris Ryan
In the discussion (22)
Approx. transcript time · 00:16:48Read transcript
  • Roma across the table from the Jonathan Pryce character and the Roma–Moss confrontation are preferred on later viewings. — Sean Fennessey
  • The Baldwin speech remains an all-time favorite but is so familiar that it can feel skippable; Moss and Levene grow more meaningful with age. — Chris Ryan
  • Blake’s speech is an obvious scene choice, with tiny familiar moments such as deciding to start without Roma still producing chills. — Chris Ryan
  • The played Blake speech includes the coffee-for-closers rebuke and the threat of firing. — Sean Fennessey
  • The played sales-contest prizes descend from a Cadillac Eldorado to steak knives to dismissal. — Sean Fennessey
  • The played speech rejects weak-leads excuses and insults the salesmen through a Hyundai–BMW wealth comparison. — Sean Fennessey
  • The played speech delivers Always Be Closing and AIDA, demanding action from the salesmen. — Sean Fennessey
  • Moss and Aaronow’s car and restaurant conversations are a fresh-viewing favorite, moving from a failed sales call and doughnuts to the proposed robbery. — Chris Ryan
  • Moss’s shifting robbery proposal exposes his larger secret payout and pressures Aaronow by invoking accomplices.
  • Moss traps Aaronow by declaring that listening already makes him an accessory; the combined conversations are called miraculous.
  • Harris’s performance depends on Arkin’s befuddled one-word replies, revealing two different forms of failure through cadence rather than speeches. — Sean Fennessey
  • Roma’s train-compartment monologue and seduction of Lingk stand out on rewatch, mixing the self-deluding con artist with Pacino’s controlled and explosive modes. — Sean Fennessey
  • Roma’s tender, self-effacing conversation is manipulative from the moment he identifies Lingk as a mark; the apparent sincerity serves the sale. — Chris Ryan
  • Pacino’s precise syllables and apparently spontaneous thought make Mamet’s language feel native to Roma; the speech resembles a precursor to The Devil’s Advocate. — Sean Fennessey
  • The long office sequence offers many memorable interactions: Roma’s entrance, the stolen phones, Williamson confrontation, Levene’s celebration, Moss’s exit and Lingk’s return. — Chris Ryan
  • Levene’s failed sit with the Bruce Altman character is singled out as heartbreaking, showing a customer who actively hates the encounter. — Sean Fennessey
  • The Roma–Moss showdown with Levene refereeing is a favorite office sequence, showcasing both actors at their strongest in furious verbal combat. — Sean Fennessey
  • Williamson identifying Levene as the thief culminates in the crushing “because I don’t like you,” with Lemmon’s eyes conveying devastation. — Sean Fennessey
  • Levene improvising D. Ray Morton’s American Express executive identity is delightful, including his inability to finish the job title and Roma’s subsequent praise. — Chris Ryan
  • Roma’s attempt to re-close Lingk leads to his blistering attack on Williamson for spoiling the deal. — Chris Ryan
  • Levene’s “you are a shithead” illustrates Lemmon’s false bravado against Pacino’s genuine bravado. — Chris Ryan
  • Both settle on Blake’s speech as the most-rewatchable choice after entertaining more unusual favorites. — Chris Ryan
Displaying discussions 61 - 72 of 137 in total

Films in the archive