The Pacino Formula... Postulating Movie Catnip Since 1992

Everyone has their good years and bad years. I imagine actor Al Pacino has had more than his fair share of good years. Even by his standards, however, 1992 must have been a good year.

A damn good year...

In 1992, the movies Glengarry Glen Ross and Scent of a Woman were released. The latter film finally secured the Best Actor Oscar that had eluded Pacino for years. (Pacino earned his third Academy nod with The Godfather Part II and many people think he was robbed when Art Carney won for Harry and Tonto.)

Before securing the Academy Award that year, Pacino had been nominated 7 times without a win. In addition to taking the award monkey off of Pacino's back, SoaW is also important for another reason... it launched the career of Chris O'Donnell. Ha, just kidding...

Where would America be without NCIS: Los Angeles?

The magical chemistry with O'Donnell apparently convinced Pacino he was onto something... 

One Aging, Yelling Actor + One Young, Male Co-Star = Movie Catnip

Drunk on his own success from SoaW, the actor decided to repeat this formula again...  in 7 movies or the exact number of times Pacino lost an Academy Award to another actor. Coincidence?

The films range in success. I think we're all guilty of watching more than a few of these flicks on TNT when nothing else is on.

Movie: Carlito's Way (1993)
Supporting Actor: Sean Penn
IMDB Rating: 7.9

Based on the same novel that spawned Martin Scorsese's After Hours, Carlito's Way was criticized at the time for being a bad remake. A cult following has slowly changed the opinions of some critics. The film would ultimately become more famous for inspiring Grand Theft Auto...

Movie: City Hall (1996)

Supporting Actor: John Cusack

IMDB Rating: 6.1

A wholly forgettable film for either actor, City Hall lost money at the box office and ultimately failed to recoup its production budget.

Movie: Donnie Brasco (1997)

Supporting Actor: Johnny Depp

IMDB Rating: 7.8

Donnie Brasco was a worldwide critical and commercial success. Depp's performance was especially praiseworthy dooming him to a career as a rather popular poster model

Movie: The Devil's Advocate (1997)

Supporting Actor: Keanu Reeves

IMDB Rating: 7.3

This film was pretty bad except for a few scenes in which Pacino is clearly trying to save a sinking ship. His monologue as Satan in which he claims, "I'm a humanist," is just hilarious!

Movie: Any Given Sunday (1999)

Supporting Actor: Jamie Foxx

IMDB Rating: 6.6

Definitely a weak film for both Pacino and Stone but, for a while, this was the best representation of Jamie Foxx's acting talent. Well there was his brilliant turn on In Living Color... see here. 

Movie: The Recruit (2003)

Supporting Actor: Colin Farrell

IMDB Rating: 6.5

Crap movie. Even Pacino seems disinterested in this weak spy thriller. Fortunately for the film's producers, it was released at the height of Farrell's fame. The film made a decent amount of money.

Movie: Two for the Money (2005)

Supporting Actor: Matthew McConaughey

IMDB Rating: 6.3

Starring in a movie with McConaughy should be a sin but so is the movie's premise. I think that balances out somehow.