Al Pacino plays Phil Spector, one of the most renowned music producers of all time who was tried and convicted of killing a woman in his home. Under the guidance of writer/director
David Mamet, Pacino gives a rather deflated performance not reminiscent of the wonderful portrayal of Jack Kevorkian in
You Don't Know Jack.
"This is a work of fiction. It’s not based on a true story." These are the words that we first read on the screen. The film presents Phil Spector as being wrongly accused of committing the murder of Lana Clarkson. After his original attorney exits a new crackpot lawyer,
Helen Mirren, comes to represent him. Initially, she is not convinced of his innocence. Her goal is to get Spector off on the grounds of a mistrial due to a lack of evidence. After spending time on the case she is later convinced that he is innocent and through a series of ballistics experiments among other things, she is determined to let the truth be known.
Mamet has crafted a competent, well thought out film here but it can't help but be a bit underwhelming. The subject matter does not allow it to be a traditional true crime biopic so Mamet chose to instead present a series of "what if's?" for the viewer to interpret. This works quite well if not a bit questionable. He seems to only present one side of the case, the defense which would be fine if there was more to go on. This is detrimental to the film as incorporating the prosecution's guilty arguments and facts could have made the film much stronger.
The cast does it's job with Mirren being the particular standout. Overall, I would give this a light recommendation. It's a shame because with all of the talent involved in this project it should have been fantastic but alas it fits the definition of mediocrity perfectly.