PEOPLE I KNOW
# stars based on 4 stars: 3 Reviewed by: Harvey Karten Miramax Films Directed by: Daniel Algrant Written by: Jon Robin Baitz Cast: Al Pacino, Kim Basinger, Ryan O'Neal, Tea Leoni, Richard Schiff, Bill Nunn, Robert Klein Screened at: Broadway, NYC, 2/13/03
A former neighbor of mine in our building overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge is an urban woman if ever there was one. Talkative and opinionated, she often cooked meals for those confined to their apartments and drove folks to medical appointments when they had no one in their own families to do so. She inexplicably picked up and moved to a private house in a rural area of North Carolina just far enough from a college town to make such a trip a chore. Who can figure what makes people tick? The southern part of the nation may be appealing to big city folks if you're talking New Orleans, but what can a town with a population of 858 offer to an ex New Yorker? Pull up a seat and take in Daniel Algrant's soulful look at a New York City man in crisis. He is a publicist so exhausted making sure the right people show up at the right functions and so nervous each time he reps a Broadway play, waiting up all night for the reviews that his sister-in-law's suggestion that he chuck the Big Apple for the rustic pleasures of Virginia sound mighty tempting.
Maybe you wouldn't think that a publicist's job is so demanding. You think a guy who spent a full career flacking actors, plays and politicians has things easy. That's because while publicists make things happen, they are usually in the background, anonymous to the public who see only the starlets and the movers and shakers themselves and not the people who help them attain their goals. In "People I Know," Al Pacino inhabits the role of Eli Wurman, a publicist who had known better times and now has only one major celeb on his payroll a handsome, Southern actor, Cary Launer (Ryan O'Neal), who now considers running for the U.S. Senate but is not eager to remain with Wurman. This theatrical piece (penned by Jon Robin Baitz who is best known for plays such as "The Substance of Fire") takes place during a 24-hour period and is filmed by Peter Deming ("Mulholland Drive") in Manhattan neighborhoods including Harlem and the Upper West Side. Appearing in every scene, Pacino's Wurman survives under the strong influence of pharmaceuticals prescribed by his concerned doctor, Sandy Napier (Robert Klein). So zonked out is the poor man that after baling out Cary's latest girl, Jilli Hopper (Tea Leoni) and setting her up in a hotel room, he is not only immobile when strange things occur in the next room but does not remember a thing when he wakes up hours later to find the woman dead. Later, racing about town to bring together a difficult reverend Lyle Blunt (Bill Nunn) and his political enemy, billionaire Elliot Sharansky (Richard Schiff) in a fund raising event, he appears to rebuff attempts by his brother's widow (Kim Basinger) to get him to retire and move to the Virginia countryside.
While the film exists largely to exhibit the enormous talent of Al Pacino, whose activities bring to mind the vivacity of a Viktor Taransky with the political plotting of a Richard III, writer Baitz has much to say about the shallowness of the celebrity culture (as if we did not know), the difficulties of racial politics, and the corruption of politicians. I wish the story could have gone with other than the 24-hour format: we might have received important flashbacks to flesh out the character of a Southern Jew who went to Harvard, participated in civil rights activities, and now lives in New York appalled by the actions of a right-wing mayor who seeks to deport Nigerian immigrants without a fair hearing. "People I Know" is a distinct, worthy piece of work that exhibits Pacino as a tragic figure behind round glasses looking somewhat like Austin Pendleton and often acting in pretty much the same schlumpy manner.
The Constitution forbids a person from serving as U.S. president for more than two terms, and no wonder: Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage shortly into his fourth term in office, presumably brought on by the pressures of the job. Perhaps an amendment could be suggested requiring each person serving in a pressure job to take a long sabbatical after serving for ten years in the same occupation or force him to get into a new, different career altogether. If you think differently, you haven't seen "People I Know."
Rated R. 95 minutes. Copyright 2003 by Harvey Karten at Harveycritic@cs.com
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