Danny Collins [Blu-Ray] 
Director: Dan Fogelman
Cast: Al Pacino, Annette Bening, Bobby Cannavale
Release Date: Now Available on Blu-ray Combo Pack & DVD
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 8.5/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10
Synopsis:
Acclaimed writer and director Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love; Tangled) tells the heartwarming story of rock icon Danny Collins (Pacino). After a lifetime at the top of the music charts, Collins just can’t give up his hard-living ways. But when he receives a never-delivered letter written to him 40 years earlier by John Lennon urging him to stay true to his heart, Danny embarks on a quest to try to rediscover his family, his talent and the love he abandoned on his way to success.
Danny Collins (Pacino) is an aging rock star, still playing the songs he never really loved at extravagant venues, engaged to a girl less than half his age and still abusing his body with booze and narcotics after the better part of four decades. That is until his manager presents him with a legitimate letter from John Lennon that went mysteriously missing and was only recently uncovered. After reading the letter from one of his idols, Danny decides to try and make some drastic changes in his life and spontaneously leaves his cheating fiancé and takes up residence at a Hilton near New Jersey, in close proximity to his adult son whom he’s never even met. On a new course and intent on improving himself, Danny goes to his sons home and tries to take a step towards being involved in his and his family’s life, although that may just prove more difficult than he initially expected.
Dan Fogelman (writer of ‘Cars’ ‘Tangled’ and ‘Last Vegas’) wrote and directed ‘Danny Collins’ which also marks his directorial debut, and Fogelman does a fantastic job at the helm, expertly guiding this incredibly enjoyable film with a tone and pacing that could not be more spot on. This heartwarming movie is also greatly benefitted by the incredibly talented group of actors who comprise the cast, including Al Pacino in the title role, along with Annette Bening, Christopher Plummer, Bobby Cannavale, Jennifer Garner, Josh Peck, Nick Offerman and a number more, all of whom deliver impressive performances in each of their respective roles.
‘Danny Collins’ is a beautifully crafted film that is not only heartwarming, but often incredibly funny and just downright enjoyable in nearly every possible way. Al Pacino is wonderful in the title role of aging musician Danny Collins and the supporting cast is all spot on as well, with some uniquely awkward chemistry between Pacino and Cannavale that only adds even more fun to this already incredibly pleasing film. Overall, ‘Danny Collins’ is a wonderful and incredibly enjoyable movie that the majority of folks out there are likely to enjoy and I would highly recommend checking it out; I’m confident that most will be incredibly pleased that they decided to do so.
VIDEO:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Danny Collins’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.40:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks fantastic, delivering a sharp, detailed presentation with rich, impressive colors throughout. No noticeable noise, pixilation or any other issues neither small nor large are present during the films duration and everything looks spot on. Overall, this is a top notch high definition video presentation with a more than sufficient bitrate that shines from start to end and shouldn’t disappoint in the slightest.
AUDIO:
The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. As one might expect for this type of film, this lossless multichannel soundtrack may not be incredibly active, although it also utilizes all five available channels more frequently that one might initially imagine, surrounding the viewer with the films wonderful soundtrack in addition to a number of other natural sound elements such as a plane flying by overhead, comments and shouts from a crowd and more; never causing any dialogue that may be occurring simultaneously to become negatively affected or distorted in the slightest. Overall, this 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack delivers in every way required of it and also contributes nicely to the overall enjoyment of this incredibly fun film.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Danny Collins’ doesn’t include a great deal in the way of bonus content although it does include a couple of extras. Included on the release is a short Featurette titled ‘Behind the Scenes of Danny Collins’ which runs just shy of 4 minutes in length and includes comments by writer/director Dan Fogelman, Actors Al Pacino, Jennifer Garner and more. Also included is ‘Danny Collins: Album Covers Through the Years’ which includes close up images of the various ‘Danny Collins’ LP’s seen in the film.
*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.
Film Rating: 8.5/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10
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