Why Al Pacino is the wrong guy to play Phil Spector

So, Al Pacino, who has previously played a psychotic gangster (Scarface), a crime boss (The Godfather Part II) and Satan himself (Devils Advocate) is now set to play Phil Spector in new rock biopic.

It sounds juicy enough to have Hollywood rubbing their hands: Spector was a millionaire by 21, a pioneer in the industry, shooting out number one records and rubbing shoulders with everyone from The Beatles to Elvis - only to become a virtual recluse in his gothic mansion, keeping his muse/wife under almost lock and key due to his growing jealousy and obsessive nature. He's certainly the rock and roll Howard Hughes. But Al Pacino? You gotta be kidding.

Al Pacino plays the tough guy rolls well - its a role that suits him. However, Phil Spector was never a tough guy. He hung around with tough guys, sure - paying ex-cops to be his bodyguards - and he was always carryied a gun or two, but the man always avoided situations in which his bluff was called (in his teenage years his bluff was indeed called - and the actions that happened mentally scarred him for the rest of his life).

In the late 90s rock journalist and film maker Cameron Crowe wanted to make a definitive Phil Spector movie and even cast Tom Cruise in the lead but it fell apart as he could never get the third act of the script to end with a satisfying conclusion. One fell into his lap with the eventual court case and imprisonment but I don’t think it was what he wanted when he first envisioned Phil’s comeback record with UK band Starsailor being the start of something wonderful to come.

Al Pacino is a wonderful actor - one of the best in my opinion - but I think he would be drastically mis-cast as this role. I’m sure he's capable of pulling off a decent performance, but for a figure like Phil Spector a little more than 'decent' is needed.

I would personally select Paul Reubens as a candidate. I know people will assume I’m joking but I think he would nail it. He is a great actor and has just enough of the madness within to be childish yet serious. His performance in Blow with Johnny Depp proved he was much more than just Pee Wee Herman. He might not be as bankable to the producers as a big name like Pacino but he’ll give the film the art it needs - and for someone like Spector it’s the art that matters...