Poor King Richard III. He's killed all his rivals for the throne and there's no one left to bow and scrape. And he can't even find a horse to ride away.Al Pacino doesn't explain why he chose this play of Shakespeare's 37, but he very successfully uses this gory history drama as a prism through which to demonstrate that Shakespeare is full of sound and fury, signifying a lot -- if Americans will just take the time to be aware.Wearing shades and a baseball cap, and clutching a copy of Cliff Notes, Al Pacino travels from New York to England talking to all manner of folk about the Bard, from men-in-the-street to ivory-tower English scholars. And he dramatizes the best scenes from the play with an ensemble of crackerjack American actors. The result is a compelling argument for giving old Will another look.I read in the IMDb notes that Pacino had originally intended to film his own version of "Richard III" but decided against it when he realized he couldn't outshine Lawrence Olivier's 1955 masterpiece.It was probably a good call.Pacino comes up with something entirely unique here and it's a delight through and through. Highly recommended for anyone who'd like to know more about the writer who knew us best.

I'm not sure I have ever given a -10- to anything I've ever reviewed here (including the fifty or sixty I have removed) - BUT - if you are an actor, director, scenarist, dialog writer, director or pretty much anything else in stage or cinema... and -haven't- seen this...You have -really- missed something remarkable.We have seen Pacino be artful (in the Godfathers, in "Glengarry Glen Ross," in "Sea of Love," in "Serpico"). We have seen him strike us dumb (in "Scarface," in "The Devil's Advocate," in "And Justice for All"). We have seen him slip us a mickey (in "Scent of a Woman," in "Dog Day Afternoon," in "Dick Tracy"). Here, however, we get to see him do -all- of this, -and- provide access to the man's boggling mind and force of charm.We can surely see here why – and how -- Al has gotten his way for decades (even though Richard himself only got –his- for two years).And see him do it in the context of the play that really "made" Bill Shakespeare when it hit the big time in 1633 -40 years- after it was written... along with a cast of stage monsters who make this 450-year-old revelation... Come... To... Life.Bear in mind, as well, how all this revelation must have been viewed a mere 125 years after all this blood-soaked chicanery in a court so similar to the one viewing it.For the king and queen who saw that first performance, this might have been rather like watching "Gone With the Wind" had it been screened for the first time in about 1880 when the world was as little changed from 1865 as 1633 was from 1485.Talk about "The Godfather," this is the -original-. The intrigues are like torpedoes coming from everywhere. NO one can be trusted. NO one is safe. And we get to see it here in a way no film version (of pretty much anything by Old Bill) has ever made so evident... and relevant.This is worth a trip to Blockbuster in a hail storm.

"Looking For Richard" is Al Pacino's monument to William Shakespeare. By taking the audience inside rehearsals for a production of one of the Bard's most famous plays, Richard III, the actor comprehensibly dissects the text and makes the play come alive.For me, in one respect, "Looking For Richard" is a disappointment. By taking the audience through the play like this, rather than actually just putting the play on screen he deprives us of what could have been a great Shakespearean performance. The snatches we see of him performing the role of King Richard by far outmatch his other on-screen Shakespeare, Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice".Pacino takes us through the play act by act in a filmed production of it. This includes discussions with his fellow producers and also the popular actors he brings on board with him, among them Alec Baldwin, Winona Ryder and Kevin Spacey. He also visits Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace, and also London, at the site of the reconstruction of the writer's Globe Theatre.Memorable highlights include a breakdown of iambic pentameter (that's something you don't see every day) as well discussions of Shakespeare with connisseurs like John Gielgud, Kenneth Branagh and Peter Brook.Without any of the expletives for which Pacino is famous in his roles, "Looking For Richard" could easily be an educational picture as well as family entertainment. I long to see Pacino come here to London and do some Shakespeare for real.As it stands, this comes thoroughly recommended to Shakespeare buffs and newcomers alike.

Shakespeare In Love? Mr. Pacino et al are in love with Shakespeare, truly, madly, deeply and thank God for that. While Canada's Stratford Festival began fifty-two years ago with decidedly Royal Shakespeare Company pretensions, while searching for its audience, voice and unique identity, (Alec Guinness opened the Festival in 1953 with a brilliant Richard III)it has staged some incredible interpretations of the canon with performances by British, American, as well as then unknown young Canadian actors including Christopher Plummer and my God, in truth, I once watched a young kid named Wm. Shatner from Montreal literally inhabit Prince Hal in Henry IV, I and II, with dynamism, boldness, wit, intelligence and unbridled energy. In Canada, Stratford has near singlehandedly made Shakespeare accessible and understandable, without condescension, in part through its inexpensive programs tailored especially for schools and the near messianic spirit of making the majesty of Shakepeare's English intelligible, in essence transcending the four century 'divide' with visually stunning,sometimes controversial but most often gratifying entertainments. Kudos to Al Pacino and company for undertaking their quest in America. Looking For Richard is truly a revelation. I always suspected that beneath the Method breathed the soul of a great, but frustrated artist, who seemed always to be searching for ...himself? How absolutely courageous and generous of Al and his colleagues to invite to share in their journey of discovery. This is not and was not ever meant to be another film version of the play. It is about becoming...