http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999542.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Wow. Oh, geez. Umm…. I think I’m a little speechless. The first thing that comes to mind is “Oh, crap, the director is the same guy that did Pacino’s Merchant – and that got crucified by the Shakespeare crowd.” (See Rosenbaum’s Shakespeare Wars for a good example of said crucifixion.) But…it’s Pacino! Can he do it? Does he still have the chops? Is Michael Corleone/Tony Montana/Sonny Wortzik still in there? Or would we get the screaming half-deaf Lear ala Colonel Frank Slade? COME NOT…BETWEEN THE DRAGON, AND HIS WRATH! HOO-AH!
Seriously, has Pacino ever had it in him to play Lear? He’s been a great actor, no doubt – but has he ever really had that kind of range?