Movie reviews | ‘Danny Collins’ and ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’

Danny Collins ***1/2

Danny Collins is an archetype; a fictitious, aging American rock star. He’s sort of a cross between Bruce Springsteen, Frankie Valley and Neil Diamond.

Collins, played by Al Pacino, finds himself at a crossroads. At the waning end of a decades-long career, while on tour supporting his “Greatest Hits Volume 3” album, Collins’ fans only want to hear “Baby Doll,” a bouncy, vapid pop tune from his distant past. For a better understanding of the burden, consider Van Morrison and his love-hate relationship with “Brown Eyed Girl.”

Pacino, as the hard-living Collins, carries the film and is featured in almost every single scene. He pulls off the role of self-destructive, but good-hearted, post-middle age rock star, attempting to make amends for his sins of neglect and self-abuse.

When an unexpected event fills his sails with a second wind, Collins is encouraged to rediscover his mojo. While the movie is clichéd, its pivotal moment is based on a real event, involving a missed opportunity between John Lennon and a hopeful British folk singer, Steve Tilston, in 1971.

The “Danny Collins’” movie uses this true account of opportunity lost as the starting point for a fabricated story about what it might mean to be blind-sided by information that could have had a life-changing effect. The supporting cast of Annette Bening as Collins’ second chance at love, Bobby Cannavale as Collins’ estranged son, Jennifer Garner as Cannavale’s supportive wife, Christopher Plummer as Collins’ manager and friend, and Katarina Cas as Collins’ precocious granddaughter, all offered stellar performances making the sometimes too predictable film enjoyable.

The nine John Lennon tunes featured in the soundtrack are a nice bonus, and apparently required a little Yoko wrangling for licensing.

Mad Max: Fury Road ****

I clearly remember 36 years ago seeing the original “Mad Max” movie, a little Australian indie that launched the career of a young theater actor, known only to the Aussies, named Mel Gibson. The movie was a gritty, gory, robust and ultimately sad tale about a post-apocalyptic dystopian Earth in the not-too-distant future.

In the bleak wastelands and barren desert, bands of toothless gangs roamed the expanses in crazy war machines patched together from old cars, trucks, motorcycles and even the odd airplane or two. The leather-clad warlords were in a constant search for food, water and gasoline, the most prized commodity.

Thirty-six years later, the former trauma surgeon, Dr. George Miller, the original creator and director of the “Mad Max” franchise, has created another movie set in this dangerous world. The costuming, make-up, prosthetics, prop design and special effects could make it an Oscar contender. See it in 3D if you can.

It’s been 30 years since the most recent Mad Max film, the 1985 “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.” Is this newest Max movie worth the wait? Absolutely.

It’s almost as if this is the film Miller wanted to make four decades earlier, but lacked the funding and technology. His 1979 budget for “Mad Max” was $300,000. The budget for “Mad Max: Fury Road”: an estimated $150 million.

Though the film had to carry the “Mad Max” name for continuity and name recognition, Max, somewhat under-played by Tom Hardy, plays the support role to Charlize Theron. Against type she stars as Furiosa, a former slave searching for redemption and revenge. She’s sexy, tough as nails and believable. She’s in essence, Mad Maxine.

Nicholas Holt co-stars as a mentally unstable War Boy, and a bevy of beauties as escapee sex slaves, all with acting chops, round out the solid casting. With all the style and grit of the original, and the added sparkle of 21st century movie-making, “Fury Road” is furiously fun.

This story was originally published May 18, 2015 at 7:20 AM with the headline "Movie reviews | ‘Danny Collins’ and ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’."