Great Film overall

Good concept, poorly executed.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Eli Wurman is a New York showbiz publicist who finds himself in danger after Jilli Hopper, the actress girlfriend of his most important client Cary Launer, is murdered. Launer is a Hollywood star considering running for political office; Jilli may have known too much about various sex-and-drug scandals involving Launer and other prominent personalities.I was largely persuaded to watch this film by its stellar cast, including Al Pacino, Kim Basinger, Ryan O'Neal and Téa Leoni. That proved to be a mistake. The plot is a total mess, incoherent and hard to follow. It doesn't help that the main character spends most of his time in a haze of drugs and alcohol, and some of the others, especially Jilli, have similar propensities. The audience will probably also feel that they too need to be out of their skulls on one intoxicant or another before they can work out what is going on. The reviewer for "Time Out", while admitting that the film is a mess, commended it for its "rebellious spirit ". He presumably meant that both director and scriptwriter were in rebellion against the received idea that a film ought to make some sort of sense.Just occasionally Pacino and some of his co-stars get a chance to show that, although the film as a whole might seem like evidence to the contrary, they are actually very accomplished actors. I liked the scene between Pacino and Basinger as Eli's sister-in-law Victoria (which doesn't seem to have much relevance to the action) and some of the scenes where Eli is trying to organise a fundraising dinner for some liberal cause. (Eli wants representatives of both the black and Jewish communities to be present, but this is more difficult than it sounds, given that the black representative, a fiery clergyman obviously based upon Al Sharpton, regards Jews as insufficiently supportive of the black cause and has a history of making anti-Semitic remarks).These, however, are just occasional flashes of light in an otherwise dull film. You should never judge a book by its cover. Or a film by the big names in the cast list. 3/10

A powerful behind-the-scenes man in politics and show business finds himself skidding into a very public scandal in this taut drama entitled,People I Know.It stars Al Pacino,Kim Basinger,Ryan O'Neal and Téa Leoni.The movie was directed by Daniel Algrant.Eli Wurman was raised in the deep South, attended Harvard Law School, and has devoted his spare time to progressive political causes since working alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960's. However, Wurman now makes his living as a press agent and PR man, and while he's near the top of his profession, years of overwork, constant smoking and drinking, and ceaseless tension are taking their toll, leaving him on the verge of collapse, with only the prescriptions of his friend Dr. Napier keeping him on his feet. One of Wurman's biggest clients is Cary Launer, a fading film star with political aspirations who, after attending a disastrous Broadway opening, asks Wurman to do him a big favor which is to bail Launer's girlfriend, Jilli out of jail and keep an eye on her. Wurman manages to get Jilli out of the stir, but she insists upon being escorted to an exclusive sex and opium den for a night of heavy drinking and drugging, and then reveals to Wurman that she owns a device which she's used to record footage of the most public figures who attend the club, including Elliott Sharansky, a billionaire Jewish civic leader. That night, a half out-of-it Eli accompanies Jilli back to her hotel room when an intruder barges in and forces an overdose on her, killing her instantly. The next morning, Wurman has only fuzzy memories of what transpired. He decides to focus on his attempts to set up a political fund raiser, but has a hard time getting the right A-list celebrities to appear, just as many of New York's power brokers aren't especially interesting in working with Wurman or Launer. In the midst of this chaos, Victoria, who was married to Wurman's late brother, arrives in New York and urges him to leave the city and his career behind while he still can.There are juicy possibilities in Jon Robin Baitz's script, and with a topnotch director and a little more better elements that they might have blossomed. As it is, despite a couple of nifty gotchas, the movie never quite gets into full stride. Tea Leoni shines as an addicted actress with a flinty vocabulary, but Kim Basinger is less lucky with her plot- device role. Pacino looks as though he's about to draw his last breath in every shot, which is precisely how he should look.With an unforgettable performance this is one of Pacino's best as you won't want to miss a minute of this gripping motion picture despite being deeply flawed thriller due to excess of plot points that fail to coalesce.

Raised in the deep south and ivy league educated, Eli Wurman(Al Pacino)is a resourceful and conniving publicist that has managed and manipulated public lives of the rich and famous. Caught up in Manhattan night life and the dependence on medications from his trusted physician Dr. Sandy Napier(Robert Klein), Eli begins losing his clients; but not his trust in mankind. It appears his powerful career is slipping when his last major client, movie actor Cary Launer(Ryan O'Neal), becomes quite the manipulator himself. He decides to fire Eli and try his hand at politics; knowing where the proverbial bodies are buried. As a favor to Cary, Eli escorts a young starlet(Tia Leoni)to her hotel only to think he is witness to her murder. If his drug addled memory is correct, he can bring down some of the most powerful and influential people in the nation. Does Eli know just enough...or so much he becomes a major threat to his own survival? Pacino really gets caught up in this role; but is it worthy of his reputation? Yea or nay, I enjoyed him to a certain degree. Also in the cast: Kim Basinger, Richard Schiff, Bill Nunn and Ivan Martin.

I do not agree with the platitude that this is simply about Narcissistic Personality Disorder. This film is very broad in scope, reflecting the complex world of public relations, politicians, actors and disappointments.Pacino is Eli Wurman, a PR man who is having his fill of the world/NYC publicist career he lives in. He complains that he went to Harvard, was one of the protesters who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, and yet his life has now become a sense of loss, and weariness.Robert Klein is very good as the world weary NYC doctor for celebrities, who simply tells Eli to take more Valium. Another mishap occurs when Eli has to rescue a starlet (erratic performance by Tea Leoni). She ends up overdosing, or being murdered, Eli was present but passed out unconscious in the other room. He has acquired a sex tape of her with Oscar winner an aspiring Senator, Cary Launer (well done by Ryan O'Neal as a conceited self-absorbed opportunist).Kim Basinger has a minor role as Eli's sister-in-law, whose husband committed suicide. She naively questions Eli as to why his brother killed himself, Eli simply replies that "people just get tired, sometimes". This clearly shows that Eli relates to suicidal ideation.Overall, an interesting film that is worth a viewing. 9/10.