Al Pacino goes deep and disdains eccentricity as small-town Texas locksmith A. J. Manglehorn, a loner obsessed with a long-lost love and coldly, angrily stuck in the past. The rest of the film, from Pineapple Express man David Gordon Green, has more than enough quirk, thanks, including an inexplicable street mime in a largely downbeat character study with flashes of humour.
A warm Holly Hunter as a spinster bank clerk with a crush on A. J. goes toe-to-toe nicely with the superbly understated Pacino — one of his most rewarding outings in a very long time — but the most involving relationship in the film is Manglehorn’s with his beloved, ailing cat Fanny. If only the dreary narrative was as developed as the central performance.
