Pacino's Birthday. Let's discuss his insane acting style

Al Pacino turned 83 today. Big fan myself but curious to know what others think as he can toe the line between larger than life and over-the-top.
Favourite underrated performance of his is in The Recruit where he delivers a line that absolutely kills me "ahh man, my dick is on fire" (see in vid)

As much as I love Heat, he danced in the edge of being over the top in that film.

Pacino was the man in the 1970's. He lost the Oscar he should have won for The Godfather because he was nominated in the wrong category. And in a perfect world he would have tied for Best Actor of 1975 with Jack Nicholson for his extraordinary performance in Dog Day Afternoon, which was just as Oscar-worthy as Nicholson in Cuckoo's Nest. Also loved Serpico, Dick Tracy, and, of course Scarface.

Pacino is one of those people who became trapped in their own iconicity, eventually resulting into a feedback loop calcifying into a cliche. One of the dangers of having a distinct star presence is that you eventually become indistinguishable from your celebrity impression.

Have tried a couple of times to watch Heat, but I can't get through it...God, that movie goes on forever.

Yeah, I did a fan edit of the film that basically cut 40 minutes out of the film. Basically, everything having to do with the details of Pacino's home life were cut out. It flows better (IMO) and that we still understand everything we need to know about Pacino's character. Sorry Natalie, but you didn't make the cut.

Pacino’s over acting aside, (which I attribute to his character being overwritten in the script, which I find lends itself to overacting the more ludicrous the dialogue gets. Jack Nicholson in The Departed was another example of this. Bad dialogue shoehorned in that didn’t fit, which results in a awkward delivery), I found the film amazing. Big fan of Mann

Totally agree with you regarding Nicholson in The Departed

Cruising is an interesting watch

Oh, I think he crossed that line a couple of times on that film

__________________

Yeah, that line as well as a handful of others. “You can get killed walking your doggie!”

Yeah, I don't mind it, though. I think it fits the character.

Eh. His delivery was off, and too emphatic. Just didn’t flow right, given the dialogue.

Tom Noonan’s What Happened Was….is another film where the dialogue felt somewhat artificial.

I think (at least most of) that stuff could've been left in, just so long as the sub-plot with Waingro and the prostitute/Dennis Haysbert's entire character had been cut out. Still a very good movie despite the bloat, though!