We are all aware of cartoon Al from Tony Montana to the hoo-ahs in Scent of a Woman and the completely over the top Devils Advocate. I have even seen Pacino play Bertolt Brecht’s Arturo Ui on stage in a performance that is almost indistinguishable from Scarface’s Tony Montana.

That said, I feel this assessment of Mr. Pacino’s recent work is a bit disingenuous. I cannot fathom why Jessica Winter fails to mention three movies where Pacino gives stellar performances that in no way resemble that cartoon Al character that we have all come to know too well. Those three movies are Insomnia, Donnie Brasco and Glengarry Glen Ross. From the detective burdened by his past in Insomnia who Elvis Mitchell describes as wearing his“beat-up leather coat like a sagging second skin” to the passed over gangster full of regret in Donnie Brasco, Mr. Pacino shows he can still give a performance as ‘stunningly complex’ as Sonny Wortzik in Dog Day Afternoon. I suspect that the reason why Al Pacino got typecast as Al Pacino has less to do with his range as an actor and much more to do with commercial considerations but that is another story.

I would add two movies to your list: Sea of Love and Carlito's Way. In both films he has a great deal of intensity (but not of the over-the-top variety seen in City Hall) to go along with his character's ennui.

adav11, you’re absolutely right about Insomnia—an excellent role of recent years for Pacino. In that film, I particularly liked the dynamic between Pacino as the haggard cop and Robin Williams cast against type as the villain—we might think we’ve seen each actor’s bag of tricks before, but Christopher Nolan digs out something new and unexpected from both of them. I respectfully disagree with Saru about Pacino in Carlito’s Way, though; the accent helped kill it for me, though I like Sean Penn as the coked-out lawyer. - Jessica

I mentioned Carlito's Way because, regardless of the accent, his character was, in a sense, a reformed version of the Pacino stereotype: Trying to maintain composure in an environment of plain nuttiness (exemplified by Penn's character).

Yes, "Carlitos Way" is the best post-hoowah performance I've seen from Pacino. Although I haven't seen "Merchant of Venice," in which I hear he's very good.

I would actually place Devil's Advocate alongside the other worthy films you mention as one of Pacino's finer performances, as well as Sea of Love, City Hall and his portrayal of Shylock in Merchant of Venice. It's too easy to describe each performance where he raises his voice as cheap and being "merely" over the top, since sometimes that is exactly what the writing calls for. There was some powerful dialogue in Devil's and in City Hall , and the brimstone lines demanded to be presented full volume , full force. In these cases, the qualty of the script and the director matter tremendously, and the result are terrific performances in movies that are not capsized by his presence. His problem is in taking too many projects with thinnly premised scripts helmed by a series of directors who seem afraid to give him direction, as they ought.

to my post Jessica. I didn't mention Carlito's Way because I agree with your assessment of that performance. Penn was a delight but I didn't see anything from Pacino that I had not seen before.

He also gave a really nice understated performance recently in People I Know. And Let's not forget Donnie Brasco.

I disagree that Al Pacino's Scarface turned him into Hammy Al. I think it started with Scent of a Woman.

I agree with those other good roles you've mentioned that go overlooked. I thought he was good in Heat for instance and didn't overact.

But here's how it happens: Al Pacino does an Al Pacino impersonation in Scent of a Woman and Devil's Advocate, by far his most egregious, and now the audience is looking for Al Pacino in all other later roles. He can't escape being seeing as doing Al Pacino, even when he's not.

Let's face it: there are a lot of wonderful actors out there whose names we don't know because they do such a good job of inhabiting their characters. We love the icons like Pacino, DeNiro, or Jimmy Stewart, because we've come to be thrilled by them. So when a legend goes overboard that's all we will ever see from then on.

I believe the writer lets Jack Nicholson off the hook way to easily. Since A Few Good Men he has become a buffoonish image. Even his sun-glassed appearances on the Oscars are Jack doing Jack. I dont believe DeNiro has slid into this syndrome yet, thank God.

we cannot forget the remarkable performance as the Boss in Dick Tracy

Pacino and DeNiro get compared a lot. Italian-American and all, I guess. They were hero-villain in "Heat" (two scenes together only), and they will reportedly reteam soon as....get this: buddy cops hunting a serial killer. (The hook: they're in LOTS of scenes together.)

But Pacino and Nicholson always had the more direct connection, it seemed to me.

In 1973, they faced off for the Best Actor Oscar: "The Last Detail" vs. "Serpico." Jack Lemmon won. In 1974, they faced off again: "Chinatown" vs. "Godfather II." Art Carney won. In 1975, they faced off again: "Cuckoo's Nest" vs. "Dog Day Afternoon." Nicholson finally won -- and Pacino would have to wait another 17 years for his Best Actor Oscar ("Hoo-ah!")

Meanwhile, DeNiro actually won his Oscar before Pacino or Nicholson did. Best Supporting Actor, for 'Godfather II.' DeNiro was trailing a bit behind Nicholson and Pacino in the early 70's, but would catch up quickly (by "Taxi Driver" in 1976.) You can find DeNiro and Nicholson matched up against each other for a couple of scenes in Kazan's "The Last Tycoon." (76? 77? 78? I can't remember.) Nicholson actually punches DeNiro out. Yeah, right.

All three men had career trouble in the 80's; they solved it in various ways. Nicholson was perhaps most clever: he took a couple of great supporting roles (in "Reds" and "Terms of Endearment") and rode them back into stardom, cashing in, finally, with "Batman" in 1989, thereby ensuring himself a new generation of fans for the 90's.

DeNiro held onto an "art prestige" career as long as he could, and then gave in on "The Untouchables," (in a somewhat seriously prepared cameo) "Midnight Run" and above all, "Backdraft." Thus was the stage set for "Rocky and Bullwinkle" and "Meet the Fockers" and that Eddie Murphy cop thing. What does he care?

Anyway, back in the early 70's, Nicholson and Pacino were the main match-up, and between the two of them, they ended up in a lot of fine films (the above-noted, plus "Panic in Needle Park" "The Godfather," "Scarecrow," "The Passenger," "Five Easy Pieces," and "Carnal Knowledge" ) ..

Nicholson and Pacino are old men now, and have to overact a bit to make up the years. But I don't think there's any taking away from them what they did in the early 1970's. It was, by and large, a great body of work. It bought them the reputations they toy with today.

P.S. Pacino said in an interview that he based his performance as the Devil in "The Devil's Advocate" by watching Nicholson's performance as the Devil in "The Witches of Eastwick." I'd like to believe that was a sly, self-knowing joke on Pacino's part. On the other hand, the Pacino-Nicholson devils were more of a match than either is to DeNiro's Devil in "Angel Heart."