Danny Collins
Bleecker Street | Release Date: March 20, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
14
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzMar 20, 2015
An appealing comedy with an unabashed streak of melodrama, sharp dialogue, and a superb ensemble cast, anchored by a lead performance by Al Pacino in lovable scamp mode. Read full review
80
EmpireAngie ErrigoMay 26, 2015
A Hugely, irresistibly enjoyable, with star chemistry to spare, genuine laughs and tears, and the bonus of apt Lennon songs on the soundtrack. Read full review
80
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonMar 19, 2015
This movie is a narrow character piece that shows Pacino wrestling to reveal layers in a man who's worried he might actually be hollow. He and Fogelman string together dozens of small, perfect moments. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallApr 1, 2015
Danny Collins isn't the most artistic or surprising movie, and Fogelman's appropriation of Lennon's music to explain what's obvious gets stale. But it does contain a wonderful performance by Pacino, when it was debatable if we'd ever say that again. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 26, 2015
By the way, Danny Collins is inspired by the true story of Steve Tilston, a British musician who received a 1971 letter from John Lennon some 30 years after it was written. The gist of the letter was about the same, but all the characters and circumstances are creations of the filmmaker. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 26, 2015
Al Pacino sells the heck out of his performance as Danny Collins. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 19, 2015
Pacino is irresistible. Whether strutting onstage or wrestling with his drug-fueled demons, he doesn't skimp on Danny's human limits. With nine Lennon tunes on the soundtrack and a new song for Danny to express his creative reinvention, this hilarious and heartfelt movie is an exuberant gift. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 19, 2015
This is Mr. Fogelman’s directorial debut, and an auspicious one; it feels as if he’s long been accustomed to working with actors — with exceptional actors like those he has brought together here. Read full review
68
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeMar 24, 2015
On the one hand, the story goes pretty much exactly where you think it will, but at the same time, Danny Collins generates its funniest and most dramatic moments precisely when the characters behave more like human beings and less like moving parts of what’s clearly intended to be a feel-good hit. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyMar 18, 2015
This is the kind of thing that should come effortlessly to Pacino, one of the all-time greats of American acting, but no longer does. In fact, this qualifies as his best and most easygoing film performance in a good decade. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaApr 3, 2015
Comedy, pathos, and some schmaltzy couplets about the changing seasons follow forthwith. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsApr 2, 2015
The lesson of this likable little movie is that it’s never too late to reclaim your integrity. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 26, 2015
Danny Collins leaves absolutely nothing to chance. The cast is full of sharp little turns by Melissa Benoist — the girlfriend in “Whiplash” and a future Supergirl — and Josh Peck and Katarina Cas, the latter playing Danny’s bubblehead user of a fiancée. Read full review
63
Washington PostStephanie MerryMar 26, 2015
Danny Collins, like its central character, has a good heart, and sometimes that’s enough. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 26, 2015
There's a delayed-secret hitch in the narrative that hijacks the movie, for better or worse. You don't have to believe any of it to enjoy a lot of it, however. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia PuigMar 19, 2015
Like an uneven album, the movie has some harmonious, authentically lilting moments and other off-putting ones. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianMar 15, 2015
The chemistry between Pacino and his cast mates gives this lightly amusing contrivance surprising emotional resonance. Read full review
60
Total FilmJamie GrahamMay 26, 2015
Hits all the routine beats but is plenty entertaining, with Pacino rediscovering his enviable pizazz to headline a quality ensemble. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 26, 2015
Pacino and his director don't get back to basics — given that Pacino plays the title character, an aging rock star who long ago sold out, that wouldn't make sense. But the actor brings such a charming attitude to the role that his performance feels far more genuine than the story itself. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMar 19, 2015
Leave it to Al Pacino to find the good in the mediocre. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMar 17, 2015
Al Pacino’s done so much Acting over the last 25 years (hoo-ah), it’s disquieting to see him digging deep again—often with subtlety—into a rich role with hidden depths. Read full review
60
VarietyScott FoundasMar 9, 2015
Beneath the sitcom cutesiness and boldfaced sentimentality, the film manages to keep just enough reality coursing through to stay grounded. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 20, 2015
The movie becomes, perhaps inadvertently, a celebration of selling out. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenApr 1, 2015
Pacino delivers his best work in a long time, but it’s contained within an utterly predictable redemption movie that only comes alive when Pacino plays one-on-one scenes with the other members of the cast. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickMar 18, 2015
Certainly watchable, but don’t go expecting much in the way of surprises. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedMar 18, 2015
Danny Collins is nothing to write home about, but it kept me entertained without too much guilt, and I didn’t wince. By today’s American movie standards, that’s becoming very high praise indeed. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenMar 20, 2015
Ostensibly exploring a monumental what-if in a musician's life — a late-career reckoning that aims to make up for lost time — the movie is itself a missed opportunity, especially given that it stars Al Pacino. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMar 19, 2015
What authenticity Mr. Cannavale and Ms. Bening bring to their roles is the sense of groundedness and integrity for one-note characters in a movie whose screenplay is little more than an efficiently executed outline. Read full review
40
The DissolveKeith PhippsMar 18, 2015
If there’s a real person beneath Danny’s over-the-top showbiz-lifer persona, Pacino never finds him. Pacino probably still has it in him to do measured, subtle performances, but this isn’t one of them. He’s more mannerism than man, even in some otherwise-relaxed scenes with Bening. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyMar 9, 2015
The spectacle of a dissolute hedonist suddenly acquiring a heart and a conscience late in life is shamelessly, and shamefully, contrived in its emotional trajectory. Read full review
40
Screen DailyTim GriersonMar 9, 2015
What proves irritating throughout the movie is the sense that Fogelman has chosen the easiest, least interesting execution of a rich premise. Read full review
More From This Movie

58 Critic Reviews

6.6 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL