Manglehorn review: an extremely odd film that's not quite mysterious enough
Al Pacino displays nuance (really) as a grizzled malcontent stranded in a Texan backwater, but there are hints of something else underpinning the enigmatic screenplay
This week, Donald reviews the newest reboot of Fantastic Four, and Tara reviews Al Pacino's 'very very slight' Manglehorn. Plus, Donald looks at manufactured nostalgia for forgotten 60s TV shows.
There are few careers in film-making that are as strange and unpredictable as the forking paths taken by David Gordon Green. The Arkansas-born director was heralded as a wunderkind when George Washington, his magnificent debut, was unveiled in 2000. He earned more good notices for All the Real Girls (2003), Undertow (2004) and Snow Angels (2007) before sidestepping into the goofy stoner comedy sector with Pineapple Express (2008) and Your Highness (2011) only to return to intimate, rural drama with Prince Avalanche and Joe (both 2013).
Even set against this chequered history, Manglehorn is an extremely odd picture. Manglehorn (Pacino) is a locksmith who lives in a small Texan town with a cat named Fanny. He has a difficult relationship with his grown-up son, Jacob (Messina), and with most other humans, including a sunny bank teller (Hunter), who he takes on an ill-starred date. He is surprisingly good with his granddaughter, who, together with the cat, seems like his only real link to the present. Mostly, he dwells on Clara, the One That Got Away, and the one he writes to daily, only for the letters to return, unopened.