The 1979 movie that Al Pacino considered completely original: “I have never seen a film like this before”
There are few stars you could argue owned the 1970s more than Al Pacino.
After starting his career in the theatre, he made his film debut at the tail end of the 1960s, which then led to an impressive run across the following decade with enough leading roles to have the whole of Hollywood surely chasing after the name of Pacino’s agent.
But it wasn’t that Pacino simply had a good agent – he was just that talented. What else could an Oscar-nominated leading performance make way for if not another leading role? Pacino racked them up like they were no big deal, yet he never fell into the role of the superficial Hollywood star who only picked up parts for a quick cheque.
Every job that Pacino took on seemed to further his interest in the art of acting, and in doing so, he broke new ground for what was considered the best of the best in mainstream Hollywood… He was a key figure in the American New Wave, often opting for these gritty, slightly subversive titles rather than soulless blockbusters with happy Hollywood endings, in turn changing the face of the modern cinema icon.
From the very beginning, Pacino was interested in roles that would deeply challenge him, like his second-ever movie, The Panic in Needle Park, which saw him play a drug addict… Then came the likes of The Godfather, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon, defining films that cemented Pacino’s greatness and reflected his desire to appear in movies that actively attempted to innovate the medium.
When it came to the end of the ’70s, Pacino wasn’t ready to let his glorious run of decade-defining movies end just yet. In 1979, he signed on to work with Norman Jewison for his legal drama …And Justice For All, penned by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson, and rather unsurprisingly, Pacino wound up with an Oscar nomination for ‘Best Actor’.
Pacino hadn’t appeared in a legal drama before – much of which is confined to a courthouse – and he couldn’t help but find himself blown away by the project, which was nothing like anything he was used to.
“I sense a certain kind of originality in the way it is done. I have never seen a film like this before,” he told Playboy that year.
Discussing the film, Pacino added, “It’s a simple picture, really. It’s about ethics and people; about a guy who is trying to do his job and his relationship to the law. To say it’s about legal systems sounds boring, and that’s not what it is. It’s funny and poignant.”
Pacino is right – a film about courthouses and legality never seems all that enticing on the surface, but with the right script, it can practically have you on the edge of your seat. “I thought it had a nice structure to it. It’s an unusual film because it is so verbal; you really have to pay attention to it,” he added.
The actor ended up getting so invested in this world that was so foreign to him that it soon seeped into his daily life, too. “I researched it a lot. I did a lot of work with lawyers before the filming began, so I felt kind of close to the courts,” Pacino explained.
Concluding, “At one point recently, a friend said to me he was having trouble with a contract, and I just instinctively said, ‘Let me see that.’ You get the feeling that you are able to do these things. It is crazy. I literally took it from him and began to give him a legal opinion. Can you imagine that?”
