Al Pacino as Dr. Jack Kevorkian

The timing of a biopic about "Dr. Death," and whether Pacino's right for the role

Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Al Pacino as Dr. Jack Kevorkian

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, left, and Al Pacino

(Corbis)

Best opinion: Screen Crave, Cinematical, Cinemablend

“Al Pacino may have another award-winning role on his hands,” said Krystal Clark in Screen Crave. The legendary actor is reportedly in talks to play Dr. Jack Kevorkian—“infamous” for his “unconventional practices of aiding patients in their suicides”—in a biopic called You Don’t Know Jack, which will de directed by Barry Levinson for HBO. I can see “Pacino acting the hell out of this material!”

“Let's just point out the elephant in the room, shall we?” said Elisabeth Rappe in Cinematical. “Al Pacino is one of the all time greats, but his recent work has been anything but.” And “the media frenzy and emotional fury” that once surrounded Dr. Kevorkian has long since “dissipated”—this role could be a big mistake.

Let’s just hope that Pacino can do a better job than he did in 88 Minutes, said Tim Gomez in Cinemablend, because that movie was terrible. But “HBO movies can be ridiculously good when they want to be,” and with both Levinson and Pacino onboard, You Don’t Know Jack “could be great.”

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November 27, 2009

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