Have the pictures of Pacino as Spector been posted yet?

[cablegeddon]

Perfect!

But I want the movie to cover the years when Spector locked himself in his house for years when he had long straight hair and beard!  

[hypehat]

Oh dear.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-phil-spector-reporter-notebook-20130321,0,3933841,full.story

[KittyKat]

Comments on the article feature a couple from one of Phil's sons, Louis. It somehow doesn't surprise me that David Mamet would write a movie that's pro-Spector and anti-Clarkson. Mamet in real life must identify with the scummy characters he creates in his work.

[KittyKat]

Phil's current wife Rachelle gave a recent interview to the Hollywood Reporter. She's working on a Broadway musical about Phil's life, emphasizing the positive. There's a comment below the article from Phil's son, Gary. Gary says that Phil barely knew Rachelle when he married her, only proposing because his original personal assistant, Michelle Blaine (daughter of Hal), turned him down. Rachelle and Phil had their marriage ceremony performed in the same area of the house where Lana Clarkson was shot. 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mrs-phil-spector-hbos-al-430506

[Dunderhead]

I thought it was actually pretty good.

[hypehat]

This is a bit of a car crash. Al Pacino does succeed in making Spector seem like a pompous twat, but I'm not sure how much of that is intentional on Mamets part. But casting Phil Spector as a tragic hero is a bit fucking much, you know. Helen Mirren does good with the mediocre material

[Roger Ryan]

PHIL SPECTOR works great when Pacino is on-screen - he perfectly captures that disturbing mixture of pomposity and insecurity that fuels every Spector interview I've seen or read. His "Spector" is a unique tragic character who almost sounds intelligent until his temper turns him into a petulant child. Whether Mamet intended it or not, Pacino makes sure you don't trust this guy but he still brings an odd warmth to the role that Spector himself lacks, at least in his public persona.

However, when Pacino is not on-screen, the quality of PHIL SPECTOR drops considerably. It feels overwritten and forced. Also, that Mirren has trouble maintaining an American accent doesn't help sell the illusion of reality here.

Overall, I wasn't horribly troubled by the film's supposed viewpoint that Spector was railroaded. Mamet was at least sharp enough not to whitewash Spector's behavior too much and Pacino does the rest: in the end, I had little sympathy for the tragic fool who refuses to accept his guilt.