Al Pacino bristles with comic energy in The Humbling

Al Pacino delivers his best performance in years in The Humbling, a tragicomic look at a veteran stage and film actor on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

That description might seem like an unwelcome invitation for another ham-fisted late-era Pacino bit. But, from the opening shot, it's clear that the infamously over-the-top actor is trying something different: subtlety.

It's just a shame Birdman had to come out first. There's probably only so much audience thirst for stories about hallucination prone, past-their-prime actors, but Pacino fans (and skeptics) would be remiss to skip this one, even if Birdman is the superior film.