Influences

People I Know (2002)

** (out of 4)

Press agent Eli Wurman (Al Pacino) is trying to get together a big benefit but other things in his life starts to cause problems. His one client, actor Cary Launer (Ryan O'Neil) asks him to get a hooker (Tea Leoni) he knows out of jail and this here leads to some dark corners of the city involving some high ranked officials. PEOPLE I KNOW pretty much got released without any fan-fair and it's easy to see why because even with an A-list cast the thing just never really comes together. I think the biggest problem with the picture is that the screenplay simply has way too many subplots and none of them are very interesting. I think the film was trying to show how much stuff this agent has going in his life but the only problem is that the majority of it isn't all that interesting. This includes his relationship to his dead brother's widow (Kim Basinger), his needing this party to be a success and of course the stuff dealing with the hooker. The story here is certainly on high speed as all sorts of things are going on but when you don't care about any of them it's hard to get too invested in the film. The only thing that keeps the film interesting are the performances with Pacino leading the way. I thought he was pretty laid back here and this really helped the performance. In this era the actor was known for the screaming and so on but that doesn't happen here and I found him to be very believable in the part. Supporting players Basinger, O'Neal, Leoni, Richard Schiff and others are also very good in their parts. The film is a thriller but there just aren't enough thrills to make it worth sitting through. It's really too bad the performances are wasted in a film where they deserved much more.

I think that when Al Pacino, the great actor that he is, retires; people will look back at this film and these sorts of films he was in and will use them as pieces of evidence to suggest that even if the film overall was a little weak and if it was a film that made errors, the one stand out feature was indeed, Al Pacino and his acting. It's films like these that will not only highlight Pacino and his ability to carry a film but will also suffice as an example as 'a film you'd watch only for its main star'.

People I Know is a film that simmers and simmers; it's a film that you put in a pot on a low burner level in an attempt to etch out all the goodness and taste that you believe it to contain. These come in the form of the strong cast, the nice cinematography, some amusing scenes that hit and miss as well as the multiple plot devices the film has. Unfortunately, People I Know is a miss-mash of numerous plot paths, stiff dialogue and suffers from time to time of scene in which you just don't seem to care about. The film attempts to look and feel like Scorsese's 1999 film Bringing Out the Dead but with a publicist instead of a medic and a limousine instead of an ambulance. Just like Cage's character from that film, Eli Wurman (Pacino) has numerous encounters with some rather strange people whilst at the same time makes life difficult for himself.

The primary problem that I personally had with the film was that it opened up all these ideas and plot paths and yet doesn't really choose to go down any of them: there is the incident with the girl who is raped and subsequently dies in the hotel room, there is the route of the elf discovery drama as Eli tries hard not to hit rock bottom and there is the simmering tension between politicians that seem to revolve around race. This made me realise afterwards that even though these things were hinted at and included, there isn't any closure on any of these events –the dead girl is ignored when I thought the film would become a drama centring around a possible framing of Eli; the mood of the film and the way Pacino acts Eli suggests he's on the verge of meltdown and yet he remains upbeat enough for the duration to see it out and lastly, the way the politicians and their situation revolving around illegal photographs of themselves plays out is a great idea for a film but People I Know just seems to brush it under the rug; alas, despite all these opportunities, the film isn't really about anything and any 'update' we are told about is through television news coverage within the film which was pretty poor.

Despite this, the film is effective in its little things. Eli is almost pathetic in his attempts to get people to come to his function and you genuinely feel for him since at the time, you don't know if he is successful or popular or whatever. Also, introducing a character and giving them all this build up before merely killing them off might be an effective way of toying with the audience but if it's forgotten about later on in the film and doesn't come back to either haunt the protagonist or create problems then what the hell is the point? Thus, the opening thirty minutes or so is technically a waste of time bar the other, tiny things people say and do. People I Know is a unique film in the way it feels bloated and yet by the end, it's very deflated. There is so much going on in this film involving deaths and illness and corruption that the story gets confused and doesn't know what to do with it all; the screenplay overpowers itself which is truly unique if not ironic since by the end, everything is still left relatively 'up in the air'. The racism divide is built up to the function but nothing really kicks off; Eli's health is built up as bad and visits to the doctor confirm this but without spoiling the ending, nothing really happens; the TV reports the girl's death and police are investigating but, you guessed it: nothing really happens thereafter. If you're going to watch People I Know, marvel at the way the film plays around with things and at the way it makes its mistakes in releasing all the suspense and intrigue. Marvel at the way it looks, not at the way it speaks and of course; there's always Al Pacino.

With 'People I Know' Dan Algrant tells a story of how the rich and powerful can get away with anything and everything. In the film, it is an actress, Jill (Tea Leoni) and a PR (Al Pacino) who fall victim as they threaten to expose the shady potentially scandalous secrets of the rich elites. Algrant's portrayal is very one-sided because he shows all the wealthy characters as big bad wolves and the lesser fortunate people in a more humane light. Examples include the scene where Tea's face lightens up as she thinks of a house in the country, and the sequences between Pacino and Basinger where we see a vulnerable side of Eli. It is the performances that stand out. Al Pacino displays a very intense performance, of a vulnerable and relatively weak character. It is entirely different from the kind of roles he has played earlier and one of his best parts. Kim Basinger lightens the screen as the supportive and loving Vicci. I liked how Algrant demonstrates the special relationship between Eli and Vicci. Their scenes together were some of the best moments of the movie. Tea Leoni is superb despite having a small role. Ryan O'Neal and Richard Schiff are adequate. 'People I Know' is a small film and the ending perhaps may not appeal to many but I thought it was an interesting, even though somewhat partial, take on how power corrupts and destroys.

Pacino is extraordinary. The much-lamented accent is sorta a bisexual/Georgian/"Noo Yawk" ... it represents a complex mixture of dialect for a complex character perfectly portrayed by Pacino - balls and all. His work seems to become increasingly esoteric over the years, and outside of his character, the storyline is uneven and downright wretched in some parts.

But Pacino redeems even the drek and delivers a landmark performance that one wouldn't expect as he nears closer to being able to collect Social Security. Gutsy, bold, and brilliant. The script and direction needed quite a bit of work- but Pacino's performance is compelling enough to wonder exactly what he will do next. A must-see for Pacino fans.

Inspired by the SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS and THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, this labour of love is the sort of film made for New Yorkers by New Yorkers. While not being particularly fresh in it's ideas and story, PEOPLE I KNOW more than makes up for it's short comings due in large part to another strong turn by Al Pacino.

Pacino is surprisingly gentle and small as a has-been impresario who is desperate for one last benefit to do some good in the city. Why exactly this benefit means so much to him is never really explained but Pacino, with that wonderful expressive face of his, is content to carry the drama with subtly and grace, using those great bags under his eyes to convey a sense of pleading exhaustion throughout the film. In many scenes, his character seems so fatigued that we expect Pacino to expire on the spot, so heavy is the burden of his life lived as a heel.

The script, by New York playwright Jon Robin Baitz, knows it's world well, as demonstrated by the excellent lead characters and the numerous small, but equally well conceived characters that pepper the screenplay. Plot-wise the Baitz's script is less than successful. The screenplay suffers from two well-meaning maguffins - Pacino's big benefit and the `toy' Tea Leoni finds - which don't really pay dividends and lead the film to a somewhat flat finale.

The direction by SEX IN THE CITY helmer Daniel Algrant is unobtrusive and safe, with no real effort made to assemble this film in anything higher than TV movie quality. Algrant is content to keep attention on his cast, which - when dealing with Al Pacino - is never a bad idea.