People I Know (2002)

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.

Fmovies: Jon Robin Baitz, the writer of this film, needs to check his facts a little more carefully. The story, as I perceived it, takes place in today's New York with today's personalities of the moment.

At one point of the film when Eli Wurman, played by Al Pacino, is talking to his widowed sister-in-law, Victoria Gray, and he asks her if she remembers when they had marched in Selma? Helloooo Mr. Baitz, how old is Victoria supposed to be? I made her out to be in her early 40s. Now, wouldn't that have been a miracle? The only way she would have been around Selma at the time of the march on that city would have been in the womb of her mother, if that was so! Well, then again, I could be wrong, she really is in her late 60s!

This film tries to do too many things; it goes in all directions without making sense, most of the time. The idea of presenting the Eli Wurman of Pacino, who was obviously gay, playing against a straight woman is laughable. Even more ridiculous when the one making the passes is a beautiful woman like Ms. Bassinger, in wild contrast with this washed out person.

Mr. Pacino might be a great actor. He has given us many interesting and diverse characters that will be cherished by all his fans, but lately, he has appeared in a series of duds that one wonders who is the person behind his decisions, since many of his choices haven't added any substance to his body of work.

This Eli Wurman, being compared to the Burt Lancaster's character in Sweet Smell of Success by many critics, kept reminding me of the Clifton Webb's tragic role in The Razor's Edge. This Eli has seen better days and no one cares about him at all.

The subplot having to do with the cause Eli is working to promote racial justice to people being deported, sounds empty and not true. It shows a side to this character that deep down inside all he cared for in his life was being at the right places, surrounded by the same celebrities he stooped to serve.

How about the other aspect of the film about the rich, possible would-be-sponsors of the cause, as libertines and swingers in an opium den on a Wall Street club? Is that supposed to be a metaphor? Oh well, I guess some of us, so out of touch with the powerful people of New York, will never know what we are really missing in those "fun" places.

"People I Know" is a clunker with no one to root for and no one to care about -- despite the game efforts of a talented cast.

Pacino delivers his usual tour de force as Eli Wurman, a past-his-prime publicity agent hollowed out by a lifetime of moral corruption. But unlike Michael Corleone, it's impossible to have an emotional investment in this character, his dilemma, or his fate.

The film traces Eli's preparations for a benefit for a liberal political cause, while distracted by a client's (Ryan O'Neal, good in an underwritten part) latest "dirty laundry" -- in this case, a TV actress companion who's gotten involved with the wrong people. Tea Leoni brings her customary star power to this supporting role, although again, the script doesn't give her much to work with. As Eli's sister-in-law, Kim Basinger manages to evoke sympathy despite implausible plot mechanics.

This movie is strictly for those who like watching Pacino strut his stuff, and enjoy the other principals. Unfortunately, between the script and direction, "People I Know" is strictly amateurish. Hence its limited theatrical release, and speedy journey to DVD. Consider yourself warned.

People I Know fmovies. With 'People I Know' Dan Algrant tells a story of how the rich and powerful can get away with anything and everything. In the film, it is an actress, Jill (Tea Leoni) and a PR (Al Pacino) who fall victim as they threaten to expose the shady potentially scandalous secrets of the rich elites. Algrant's portrayal is very one-sided because he shows all the wealthy characters as big bad wolves and the lesser fortunate people in a more humane light. Examples include the scene where Tea's face lightens up as she thinks of a house in the country, and the sequences between Pacino and Basinger where we see a vulnerable side of Eli. It is the performances that stand out. Al Pacino displays a very intense performance, of a vulnerable and relatively weak character. It is entirely different from the kind of roles he has played earlier and one of his best parts. Kim Basinger lightens the screen as the supportive and loving Vicci. I liked how Algrant demonstrates the special relationship between Eli and Vicci. Their scenes together were some of the best moments of the movie. Tea Leoni is superb despite having a small role. Ryan O'Neal and Richard Schiff are adequate. 'People I Know' is a small film and the ending perhaps may not appeal to many but I thought it was an interesting, even though somewhat partial, take on how power corrupts and destroys.

I rented this movie in anticipation of a typical gangster, car chasing movie night. I have been living with the character portrayed by Eli for so long, I had no idea I would then go on to see this person so brilliantly characterized in a movie. I had never even heard of this movie.

actually this movie is a study in narcissistic personality disorder. Everybody seems to have it except Victoria, played by Kim Bassinger, she is the typical naive, girl next door type who is eternally optimistic that she can "save Eli" from himself. I was actually surprised to see such a character included in the film, she could have been left out (Eli never would have noticed). And yes, her character is brilliantly flat, as are the people that the Eli's of this world require them to be.

Almost all aspects of this personality disorder are included, gender confusion, drugs, alcohol, denial of responsibility (but self promotion), the all pervasive, consuming,"dark intense drama" the hob nobing with people of importance, and ultimately the loneliness of it all ... even the secretary can't take it any more, he flees for Seatle where things are "ordinary." I was just getting used to the idea that movies of substance were no longer being made. I spend a lot of time with Turner Movie Classics. It is true, this is not one of those escapist films, but one that will leave you thinking, even watching it again to see if in deed he was the one to leak the truth.

Although I am a New Yorker, you can find these self absorbed, image conscious people anywhere, maybe that neighbor that you just can't figure out.

And I am not in the psychological field

A public relations agent in New York (Al Pacino) tries to recapture his misplaced ideals by organizing an event in response to the mayor's crackdown on crime, a crackdown which results in widespread arrests and deportations. Years of drugs have diminished his effectiveness, and the drug culture is an essential part of the film's murky subplot, that has Tea Leoni as a strung out actress who Pacino bails out of jail and ends up going with to a crazy party where people are smoking opium. When she's murdered later that night in her hotel room while Pacino is reclined and nearly passed out in the bathtub, the story begins to be a rather ingenious combination of this effort to mobilize the intellectual, political, and religious elite in response to the heavy-handed mayor, while also wading through the colorful and dangerous gutter in which many of them occasionally like to plod around in. With a great part for Ryan O'Neal as an Oscar winning actor contemplating politics, and some very well cast parts and a great stand-off in the kitchen at the restaurant where the benefit takes place between a leading black minister and his bodyguards and his Jewish nemesis and his bodyguards as well, the film lashes out at the hypocrisy of all of them by focusing in on an addled and vulnerable publicity agent who's just about at the end of his rope.