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David Gordon Green continues to focus on character studies, as he did with “ Prince Avalanche ” and “ Joe ,” but the results this time are decidedly more frustrating than those superior efforts. Just as “Joe” often felt like a vehicle to rehabilitate the oft-mocked career of Nicolas Cage in the last decade or so, “Manglehorn” sometimes feels designed to remind us that Al Pacino is still one of our greatest actors. OK. Point taken. Now what? While “Joe” built an interesting film around Cage’s performance, Green leaves Pacino adrift in “Manglehorn,” and the result is a disappointing, shambling piece of melancholy with a few interesting scenes here and there that never cohere in such a way that allows the legendary actor to disappear into the character.

Pacino plays an eccentric locksmith named Manglehorn who lives in a small Texas town by himself. He’s estranged from his financially successful son Jacob ( Chris Messina ), has few real friends outside of his cat, and writes letters to the love of his life who got away many years ago. A highlight of his meager existence seems to be the occasional visit to the local bank to see the lovely teller Dawn ( Holly Hunter ), but when he’s given a chance to turn that into something greater, he fumbles. Manglehorn has allowed anger, regret and depression to push him into isolation in his later years. He doesn’t have much left outside of his key-making business, and that basically just gives him another reason to be alone in his shop.

On one level, Paul Logan ’s script is defiantly episodic: Manglehorn talks to his son, he runs into an acquaintance (played in a remarkably aggravating style by Harmony Korine ), he flirts with Holly Hunter, etc. While “Manglehorn” could have been a character study, a slice of reclusive old age in modern America, Logan and Green layer their film with poetic self-importance, mostly in Manglehorn’s letters and inner monologues, complete with lines like “ I’m losing hope in tomorrow .” It feels false, like a degree of self-understanding that only comes in motion pictures or bad fiction. And that dishonesty carries over to scenes between Manglehorn and his son, especially a dinner between the two that’s just too poorly written for Pacino and Messina to save it.

Every shot of Manglehorn’s grizzled face is weighted with unearned gravitas, the kind that comes with designing a film around an actor instead of a character or a narrative. It feels like the first draft was called “Al Pacino is Still a Hell of an Actor.” And that showcase is constantly pushing against the film’s realism. There’s a scene late in the film between Pacino and Hunter that really should work—she’s great in it—in which Dawn realizes that Manglehorn’s enclosed life is one that she may not want to enter, but Pacino and Green can’t figure out how to play the moment. Pacino practically climbs on a soapbox to deliver a monologue, when it should be about a man afraid and tentative to re-enter the real world of human relationships.

At its best, “Manglehorn” is a surprisingly deep conversation with an old friend on a twilight Southern evening. It’s about those times in our lives when we reassess past mistakes and consider the diminishing hours we have left on this planet. I only wish the film allowed that conversation to flow naturally with a well-rounded character instead of reminding us over and over again that we’re talking to the one and only Al Pacino.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film Credits

Manglehorn (2015)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and language, and for accident and surgery images

Al Pacino as A.J. Manglehorn

Chris Messina as Jacob

Holly Hunter as Dawn

Harmony Korine as Gary

Natalie Wilemon as Clara Massey

• David Gordon Green

Director of Photography

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Pacino's performance best part of uneven drama.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Love and connection are important and should be va

Manglehorn is lonely, dreaming of the past as he d

Aftermath of a multi-car accident, including injur

A character accidentally finds himself in a brothe

Occasional swearing includes "s--t," &qu

Wealthy character drives a fancy Porsche.

The main character smokes cigarettes frequently an

Parents need to know that Manglehorn is a character study that focuses on a lonely old man (played by Al Pacino) who can't seem to get over the one great love of his life. Expect quite a bit of drinking (often to the point of drunkenness); the main character also smokes cigarettes. There's occasional…

Positive Messages

Love and connection are important and should be valued. It's worth trying to salvage a damaged relationship by figuring out where you went wrong and how you can correct it.

Positive Role Models

Manglehorn is lonely, dreaming of the past as he drifts toward a solitary future. But he's gradually able to emerge from his shell and start to focus on what he's made of his life and how he can still change it. It's clear that he has in the past felt great love, for a woman and for his son, and he's trying to fix those damaged relationships.

Violence & Scariness

Aftermath of a multi-car accident, including injured people lying on the ground and some people who may be dead. Close-up shots of a cat having surgery. Two men get into a physical altercation that leaves one on the ground. Main character sometimes shoots empty bottles with a gun.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A character accidentally finds himself in a brothel and storms out in an angry huff after a prostitute solicits him. Another man's naked backside is briefly visible in the background.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Occasional swearing includes "s--t," "t-ts," and "dammit."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Drinking, drugs & smoking.

The main character smokes cigarettes frequently and often gets drunk alone. He drinks whisky at home, has more drinks while gambling alone in a casino, and sometimes goes to bars.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Manglehorn is a character study that focuses on a lonely old man (played by Al Pacino ) who can't seem to get over the one great love of his life. Expect quite a bit of drinking (often to the point of drunkenness); the main character also smokes cigarettes. There's occasional swearing ("s--t" and "goddamn") and some heated, emotional encounters, as well as scenes depicting the aftermath of a car accident -- including people injured and some who may be dead -- and surgery on a cat. A character is solicited by a prostitute after accidentally going into a brothel, and a naked backside is briefly visible in the background. A gun is used to shoot empty bottles. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

MANGLEHORN, the film, focuses on Manglehorn the character ( Al Pacino ), a lonely old man who pines for the lost great love of his life. He also struggles to connect with his son, and when he finally gets up the nerve to ask a friendly bank teller ( Holly Hunter ) on a date, all he can talk about is the woman who left him years ago. Manglehorn's only real connection is to his cat, who has been acting poorly and probably needs surgery.

Is It Any Good?

Pacino is a stunner as the title character. His heartache practically oozes off the screen as he tries to connect, via heartfelt letters, to his ex, Clara -- letters that are always returned unopened. Hunter, too, has an amazing scene as a lonely woman who's terribly disappointed to learn that she was probably mistaken about her chances to find love. And Chris Messina , as Manglehorn's estranged son, delivers a knockout monologue about growing up with a difficult father.

The film's problem is that all of these excellent pieces don't connect to create a coherent whole. It's OK to leave some of the backstory unexplained. We don't need to know all the details of how and why Manglehorn and Clara split up or why his son doesn't like him. But we do want the film to make sense. We hear a few stories about Manglehorn as a doting dad, and and we see him as a devoted grandfather, so it's not very clear how he managed to alienate his son. We see the frustration in Messina, but it doesn't totally make sense. Nor do we know why Manglehorn ended up alone, so it's hard to understand why he's become so completely unable to move on with his life, even with a woman who likes him right there in front of him. It's satisfying to see Manglehorn eventually unlock his closed-off heart, but it's unearned. See it for Pacino, but not for the storytelling.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how Manglehorn depicts relationships. How did Manglehorn end up old and alone, fixated on a long-ago love? How does that prevent him from making connections now? Can you think of other movies about missed relationship opportunities?

How does the movie portray drinking and smoking ? Are they glamorized? Are there realistic consequences?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 19, 2015
• On DVD or streaming : October 6, 2015
• Cast : Al Pacino , Holly Hunter , Chris Messina
• Director : David Gordon Green
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : IFC Films
• Genre : Drama
• Run time : 97 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : some sexual content and language, and for accident and surgery images
• Last updated : June 19, 2023

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Manglehorn Reviews

Seldom more than a vehicle for Pacino to exercise his considerable (and still active) talents, Manglehorn is a string of engaging and breathtaking images that, when strung together, become a subdued meandering plot devoid of any real meaning.

Full Review | Aug 2, 2023

The problem does not lie with Pacino as such, but with an "open-ended" script that does not have sufficient pointedness or purpose to it.

Full Review | Feb 12, 2021

Featuring an understated and highly enjoyable performance from Al Pacino, it may feel slight, but Green is never trying to exaggerate a tale that's about the difficulty of moving beyond regret.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 20, 2020

Fortunately an Al Pacino, with all the experience behind him, having participated in mythical films, and with essential directors, gives us a whole acting lesson. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Apr 18, 2020

While it is far from perfect, David Gordon Green's Manglehorn rights the ship, somewhat -- not least in the form of Pacino's own understated and fragile lead performance as a lonely and melancholic locksmith.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 6, 2019

This no-thrills character-driven drama is no Godfather, but Pacino has recognised and grabbed an opportunity to remind us just how great he can be when he bores into a character's inner life, then slowly, painstakingly reveals it back to us.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 21, 2017

Director David Gordon Green overdoes the arty loneliness, just as Al Pacino over-cooks the lead role.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 30, 2017

... [Al Pacino] gives one of his most inventive, interesting and detailed performances in ages.

Full Review | Oct 12, 2017

The film is best when we just watch Pacino as a man consumed by old regrets.

Full Review | Oct 11, 2017

There's almost a feel of experimentation to parts of Manglehorn, but as 85% of the movie is just a straightforward character drama, those bits don't really fit.

Full Review | Oct 9, 2017

Mostly, Pacino just mumbles drunkenly as Green's camera drifts woozily in and out of focus and post-rockers Explosions in the Sky tinkle on the soundtrack.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 6, 2016

The poetic and the naturalistic clash together, and it doesn't look like it was done on purpose.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Mar 20, 2016

Even set against this chequered history, Manglehorn is an extremely odd picture.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 7, 2016

Manglehorn is an intriguing film, or at least it should have been. David Gordon Green's latest is unfortunatel y passive, there might be depths to explore on a second or third watch, but I struggled to make it through the first.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 26, 2016

Only the fine acting performances offer any pleasure.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 1, 2016

Thanks to a performance of wintry ferocity and dark charisma from Pacino, Manglehorn remains a fascinating enigma.

Full Review | Dec 12, 2015

You can tell Pacino is committed to the role because he hasn't washed his hair.

Full Review | Aug 13, 2015

If the symbolism feels a bit too on the nose here, Green compensates by giving Pacino the space to create a recognisably flawed human being whose foibles he captures on screen with unsparing honesty, but also real tenderness.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 10, 2015

Al is mesmerising, but he and Holly could have done so much more, had more been available.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 10, 2015

It drifts at its own sweet pace, but eccentric, impressionistic editing muddies the water.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 9, 2015

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Left heartbroken by the woman he loved and lost many years ago, Manglehorn, an eccentric small-town locksmith, tries to start his life over again with the help of a new friend. Left heartbroken by the woman he loved and lost many years ago, Manglehorn, an eccentric small-town locksmith, tries to start his life over again with the help of a new friend. Left heartbroken by the woman he loved and lost many years ago, Manglehorn, an eccentric small-town locksmith, tries to start his life over again with the help of a new friend.

• David Gordon Green
• Paul Brad Logan
• Holly Hunter
• Harmony Korine
• 54 User reviews
• 101 Critic reviews
• 56 Metascore
• 1 nomination

Top cast 55

• (as Brian D. Mays)
• (as Herculano Trevino)

• Mother with Kid in Car
• Cafeteria Cook

• Checkout Lady
• Singing Man

• Singing Woman
• Vet Assistant
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia In the original script Manglehorn was a criminal who had gone straight. He met with his old partner who was hiding out in a senior citizen's home and his mysterious back story was explained. There was also a massacre at Dawn's bank and a massive earthquake that brought forth Clara. This was all edited out of the final film.
• Goofs When Manglehorn has a conversation with the little girl in a park, the girl holds a yellow toy and eats ice cream. The amount of ice cream changes too quickly between shots.

A.J. Manglehorn : You look great. Like a racehorse.

• Connections Referenced in Evening Urgant: Anastasia Myskina/Dinara Safina (2015)
• Soundtracks I Don't See You Anymore Written by David V. Debiak (BMI) Performed by New London Fire

User reviews 54

• Oct 10, 2014
• How long is Manglehorn? Powered by Alexa
• June 3, 2015 (France)
• United States
• Hayallerimdeki Kadın
• Wooten neighborhood, Austin, Texas, USA (Tan Man salon)
• Worldview Entertainment
• Dreambridge Films
• Muskat Filmed Properties
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $4,000,000 (estimated)
• Jun 21, 2015

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 37 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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‘manglehorn’: film review.

Al Pacino stars as a small-town locksmith in a self-imposed emotional prison in David Gordon Green's intimate character portrait

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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The mix of limpid naturalism and lyricism that has often distinguished  David Gordon Green ‘s indie films slides into sentimentality — or worse yet, whimsy — in Manglehorn . Those cloying excesses are even represented by their professional flag-bearer, the fully costumed mime artist. And while few things should trigger anyone’s rage disorder like a backwater Marcel Marceau , the simmering title character played by a mostly subdued Al Pacino gives the guy a pass. Twice. It’s hard to do likewise for Paul Logan ‘s ham-fisted script, which painstakingly spells out every metaphor, whether it’s spoken or visual.

One such loaded symbol is A.J. Manglehorn’s line of work. He’s a locksmith in small-town Texas, which means he’s responsible for both the locks and the keys to his “own private prison.” That emotional jail cell is a place where he lives with his numbness, his anger, his furball cat Fanny and his past mistakes, aired in voiceover letters written to Clara, the one true love that he screwed up. Those letters invariably are returned to sender, where the sting of rejection is represented by a small bee colony on the mailbox.

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Manglehorn’s solitude is conveyed in an uncharacteristically internalized performance from Pacino . But every opportunity for a quiet character study exploring the complexities of human connection is trampled by Logan’s leaden  dialogue , by those pervasive voiceovers , or by the beautiful but often far too pointed widescreen images of Green’s regular cinematography collaborator,  Tim Orr .

The tenderness of Manglehorn’s letters (“I’m a wounded man, Clara”) plays in contrast to his low opinion of the human fauna that surrounds him. He’s courteous with his customers, as seen in a handful of house calls that give the portrait some welcome texture. But despite his good intentions, infrequent encounters with his grown son, Jacob ( Chris Messina ), a smugly stereotypical commodities trader, tend to turn sour. And despite the hero worship of Gary ( Harmony Korine ), a ballplayer back when Manglehorn was coach, he generally finds that a little of the logorrheic businessman/pimp goes a long way. Jacob’s 6-year-old daughter, Kylie ( Skylar Gasper ), is the only person who doesn’t rattle grandpa’s nerves.

The one real window of cautious hope in Manglehorn’s existence is a sunny bank teller named Dawn ( geddit ?), played by Holly Hunter , who like all of the cast here, deserves better. Every Friday when Manglehorn comes by to deposit his earnings, they exchange pleasantries about their ailing, aging pets. (The constipated cat has swallowed a key, for Christ’s sake.) When Dawn accepts a casual invitation to join him at — wait for it — a “pancake jamboree,” a flicker of romance is born. But Manglehorn sabotages any tentative overture even before knocking on her door for their first official date.

This is Logan’s first produced screenplay, and its immaturity is written in neon. But that’s no excuse for Green and actors of the caliber of Pacino and Hunter buying it wholesale.

The signposts along the journey out of Manglehorn’s black hole of maudlin regret toward his inevitable second chance are beyond obvious: Fanny’s graphically covered intestinal surgery; Jacob’s confused cry for help; an improbably late discovery of what goes on at Gary’s tanning salon (which makes crusty old A.J. seem like the most naïve guy on the planet); the unlocking of a charred safe salvaged from a fire. That’s not to mention a multiple-car redneck pileup that yields a mile of chunky watermelon carnage. (Not kidding.) Even the exorcism of Clara and the boat on which Manglehorn planned to sail away with her is as literal as it gets.

All of which is too bad, because there’s a stirring gentleness in the early scenes, along with Orr’s seductive visuals, accompanied by the symphonic post-rock of Texas band Explosions in the Sky and the delicate scoring of David Wingo . But those elements just make you wish someone had made a stronger case for subtlety. Narrative muscle is also in short supply in a film whose default position is dreamy meandering.

Pacino is certainly committed to the role, and this is by no means one of his blustery turns. However, the writing provides his character with no backstory, choosing instead to let the audience fill in details of the past transgressions that led him into darkness. But the film is so psychologically crude that such considerations become a thankless task.

Korine is manic and amusing, playing off his own bad-boy persona until the character is assassinated by a ludicrous speech extolling Manglehorn’s virtues as “a man of miracles.” Hunter rises above it all to the extent she can, though no actress should be obliged to play a woman’s desperate need for love and companionship so nakedly.

Since stepping away from studio work, Green has been on an agreeable track, with his oddball Beckettian two-hander, Prince Avalanche , and his soulful Nicolas Cage redemption bid, Joe . But Manglehorn is a wrong turn.

Production companies: Muskat Filmed Properties, in association with Rough House Pictures Cast: Al Pacino , Holly Hunter, Harmony Korine , Chris Messina, Skylar Gasper Director: David Gordon Green Screenwriter: Paul Logan Producers: Christopher Woodrow, Molly Conners, Lisa Muskat, David Gordon Green, Derrick Tseng Executive producers: Brad Coolidge, Melissa Coolidge, Todd Labarowski, Danny McBride, Jody Hill Director of photography: Tim Orr Production designer: Richard A. Wright Costume designer: Jill Newell Editor: Colin Patton Music: Explosions in the Sky, David Wingo Sales: CAA, Cinetic, WestEnd Films

No rating, 97 minutes  

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Manglehorn Review

06 Aug 2015

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.

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Manglehorn Reviews

• 56   Metascore
• 1 hr 37 mins
• Watchlist Where to Watch

An elderly locksmith, still grieving the loss of his great love, learns to trust again as he cautiously bonds with a local bank teller and works to mend his relationship with his yuppie son.