Danny Collins (6/10)

A story that's very loosely based on a real life event of a British singer Steve Tilston, emphasis is on the words "very loosely" because the producers didn't even use the name of Tilston.

The only real event was the letter to Danny Collins in the movie by John Lennon, including Lennon's phone number. From this premise, Hollywood script writer Dan Fogelman created the story of Danny Collins and directed it as his first full-length feature.

I enjoyed the pace of the movie created by Fogelman, but I enjoyed the performers more. It's been a while since I have seen an Al Pacino movie, and I found myself missing his acting, I've forgotten what a great performer he is and it felt like it's been a while since he really gave an acting performance that came from the heart.

Another great performer in the movie was Bobby Cannavale who for once has won me over. I usually only see Cannavale in small roles, too small to have any significant impact onscreen. But to see his back and forth with the great Pacino and completely holding his own was a revelation to me personally.

This may be just me, but I thought Jennifer Garner looked too pretty for this role; though I did not question her performance at all. Annette Bening is always great, she rarely disappoints. Melissa Benoist and Josh Peck were the subplot that never really went anywhere. Benoist, however, could be the next big thing. Her performances here and in Whiplash, though brief, were eye-catching enough. And if her "Supergirl" series can take off like her namesake, she could have bigger roles very soon.

But it was little Giselle Eisenberg that stole the scenes for me. Her spunk and energy appeared as cute and endearing, but perhaps not quite annoying enough for a girl with ADSL.

As a story for a movie, I thought Fogelman came up with something that's quite original and charming, and Pacino, Bening and Cannavale brought it all home. But there just wasn't enough original plot points in the story progression to make me enjoy it more as we saw Pacino's Collins go up and down in finding himself at this stage in his life.