Is it possible Al Pacino often selects screenplays that prove challenging in an all too unusual manner? “Let’s see if I can overcome even THIS stinker” he seems to be saying to himself as he acts up a storm in Stand Up Guys, which also boasts Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin for good measure. After seeing the film, close your eyes and try to imagine anyone besides Pacino in the lead role. The result, which isn’t unsatisfying with Pacino, would be plain ugly with just about any other actor taking on Valentine, an ex-con who gets out of jail after 28 years only to embark on 24 hours or so of amusing misadventures. Buddy Walken, who Pacino took the prison hit for, picks up Al as he leaves the jail, and, we soon realize, must slay Al to save his own skin from a comically vicious mob boss. Al catches on soon enough yet he’s surprisingly resigned to his fate. He’s so busy entertaining himself (and us) that he hardly seems to notice the gravity of his situation.
Before we know it, there are hookers, a stolen car, numerous retail break-ins, and a break out of a nursing home of fellow pal Alan Arkin, who loves driving the car they stole since that’s what he used to do in “the old days,” when they were all a team. Just to show the old guys can still do it, they even bust on a young gang who gave a young woman such a hard time she ended up in the trunk of the aforementioned stolen car. Throw in an impromptu funeral for sentiment’s sake, and a possible estranged granddaughter. Through it all Pacino soars like a pro who starred in a few of the greatest films of all time and can do Shakespeare in his sleep. Farcical comedy? No problem. He’s got the timing, the exact timbre of voice and the panache to pull it off and make you forget the script basically makes no sense. Not an easy feat. Go Al. Unlike genuine January stinkers Gangster Squad and Broken City, where good acting shaded lousy concepts and writing, here the acting takes on a life of its own, allowing one to question the need to assess solely on terms of credibility or logic. Unless, of course, you don’t particularly care for Pacino, in which case you’re screwed.
