What is the greatest Al Pacino role of all time?

By YPB Team

From quiet, calculating masterminds to explosive, scene-stealing forces of nature, his range spans decades of American cinema's most complex anti-heroes and tragic figures. Cast your vote!

  1. The Godfather (1972) — ranked #11
    The Godfather (1972)
    Pacino plays Michael Corleone, a war hero who reluctantly joins his Mafia family and transforms into a ruthless crime boss.
  2. Scarface (1983) — ranked #22
    Scarface (1983)
    Pacino plays Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant who claws his way to the top of Miami's cocaine empire in this operatic crime epic.
  3. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) — ranked #33
    Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
    Pacino plays Sonny Wortzik, a desperate man who holds up a Brooklyn bank to fund his partner's surgery in this tense true-story thriller.
  4. Serpico (1973) — ranked #44
    Serpico (1973)
    Pacino plays Frank Serpico, the real-life NYPD officer who blew the whistle on widespread corruption at great personal risk.
  5. Scent of a Woman (1992) — ranked #55
    Scent of a Woman (1992)
    His Oscar-winning performance as the blind, cantankerous Lt. Col. Frank Slade, who takes a young prep-schooler on a wild New York weekend.
  6. Heat (1995) — ranked #66
    Heat (1995)
    Pacino plays LAPD detective Vincent Hanna, obsessively pursuing Robert De Niro's career criminal in Michael Mann's crime masterpiece.
  7. Carlito's Way (1993) — ranked #77
    Carlito's Way (1993)
    Pacino plays Carlito Brigante, a reformed Puerto Rican gangster trying to go straight in 1970s New York but unable to escape his past.
  8. The Godfather Part II (1974) — ranked #88
    The Godfather Part II (1974)
    Pacino reprises Michael Corleone, now the ruthless patriarch consolidating power while flashbacks trace his father Vito's rise.
  9. The Devil's Advocate (1997) — ranked #99
    The Devil's Advocate (1997)
    Pacino plays John Milton, the charismatic and supernatural head of a Manhattan law firm with a secret demonic agenda.
  10. Donnie Brasco (1997) — ranked #1010
    Donnie Brasco (1997)
    Pacino plays aging mobster Benjamin 'Lefty' Ruggiero, who unknowingly befriends an undercover FBI agent in this melancholy crime drama.
  11. ...And Justice for All (1979) — ranked #1111
    ...And Justice for All (1979)
    Pacino plays a principled attorney pushed to the breaking point by a corrupt legal system in this courtroom drama.
  12. The Irishman (2019) — ranked #1212
    The Irishman (2019)
    Pacino plays Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa in Scorsese's sweeping mob epic, delivering a magnetic and commanding performance.
  13. Any Given Sunday (1999) — ranked #1313
    Any Given Sunday (1999)
    Pacino plays a besieged football coach fighting to hold his team together in Oliver Stone's frenzied look at professional sports.
  14. Insomnia (2002) — ranked #1414
    Insomnia (2002)
    Pacino plays a guilt-ridden LA detective whose moral compromise during a murder investigation haunts him in Christopher Nolan's thriller.

Comments

Insomnia is the only Nolan feature he neither wrote nor co-wrote, and a tired detective in Alaska has to get past Michael Corleone and Tony Montana: https://youpick.best/articles/christopher-nolan-ranked-many-ways

YP
ypb-team
·4 days ago·
0/1000