Movie Review: Manglehorn

Romance/Drama Stars Al Pacino & Holly Hunter, Features Harmony Korine

A brooding chapter in the life of one older man sums up Manglehorn in one simple phrase. However, to rest on such an oversimplification of fact as the total sum of a worthy review would be impossible. 

Don't be distracted by those who'd write the Manglehorn experience off as a predictable or otherwise somehow knowable story—a story of 'any old man'. Rather, treat yourself to the opportunity of another of Al Pacino's incomparable performances in a role of an unexpected kind for the tenured actor. 

A.J. Manglehorn (Angelo) hardly stands out in a society of conformity, being essentially a made man who owns his own business that serves the community. He lives in a little home on a nice block in a quiet Texas town with a red-flag mailbox. Yet, Manglehorn harbors an obsession that deserves a second look and understanding, and requires a growth of the human condition.

While Manglehorn may not be a family movie per se, anyone could watch. Ultimately, though, this is an adult-themed drama/romance movie best saved for those times when you truly have a movie moment to sit back and take it all in.

It'd be going too far to even define the Mangelhorn character as eccentric. It is, however, a worthy character study that delves into the ongoing state of sorrow experienced by a man who has come to be (mostly) alone in life. (Really, is that in itself a problem?) What is Manglehorn's greatest regret? Probably not what we initially believe. 

Despite being an introspective, creative sort who writes and sometimes draws to sort out his feelings, Manglehorn doesn't seem able to shake his depression concerning a past relationship. Will he ever break free?

Humans are a quirky, interesting lot—without contemplative films like Manglehorn, we'd normally miss out on the experience and understanding of such characters who cope with life's challenges in their personalized, yet society-conforming, ways. 

Al Pacino - Manglehorn

How do people survive? What a loss it'd be, to not have these opportunities to be flies on a wall of the less-than-braggable experiences of others, with which we ourselves are just as likely to contend in life. 

Manglehorn's supporting cast lends its own eccentricities to the life of the man, and works to engage its audience in some part of the ongoing struggles experienced by them all.

Find Manglehorn on IMDB