The acting in this movie is really good.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Dramatization of events in the murder trial of once-famous record producer Phil Spector, who was accused in the shooting death of struggling actress Lana Clarkson in his Hollywood mansion in 2003. Cable offering from HBO Films (who open the movie with a disclaimer!) is a triumph for writer-director David Mamet, who succinctly examines the events of the case, coming up with no motive for murder on Spector's behalf. While typically over-the-top during the course of the proceedings, Al Pacino still manages to give a mesmerizing performance; his portrait of Spector is, by turns, strange, sad, deluded, self-amused and amusing, and utterly out of control. Spector is a lunatic, but does that make him a murderer? Mamet isn't so sure, and provides for us great food for thought. Helen Mirren, as defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden (with a nagging cold) is nearly as masterful as Pacino. Nominated for 11 Emmy Awards, the film surprisingly came up empty-handed; nevertheless, a superlative achievement.

Nice TV movie about the trial of record producer Phil Spector.Al Pacino as Spector, Helen Mirren as the lawyer who represents him.Good writing/directing by David Mamet, good acting. Nothing amazing, but it's a good court drama that kept me interested throughout the movie.As the remark in the beginning of the movie says, it's fictionalized, and I treated the movie like that - some of the situations were obviously fictionalized (such as the trial rehearsal and the entire lawyers office, which seems more like a police station). I don't know how accurate the details presented in the movie are, but if it's half right then it raises some serious questions about the case.

Simple, low-budgety, but very realistic little docu-drama. Pacino really shines as Spector, and Helen Mirren is similarly good as defense attorney Linda Kelley Baden. Much of it consists of private conferences between Spector and Baden, as well as between Baden and her cohort attorneys. Though it shows nothing in the way of flashback to the alleged crime and little of the actual trial, PHIL SPECTOR is very revealing of the games and agendas that are so often involved in criminal prosecutions, especially when they are high in profile and/or involve celebrities. It's also a strong character study of a super-arrogant, often downright repellent man who possesses some nonetheless admirable qualities.

While Al Pacino and Helen Mirren fully capture their roles in this 2013 film, I found the film lacking for several reasons. I think the film ended too abruptly. They should have gone on to show the mistrial and the second one which ultimately convicted Spector.Pacino has the role down to a science as he always does. However, the writing had him rambling here and that would convince any jury of his guilt.Did Mirren actually have pneumonia or was her illness more serious?They should have also shown some scenes showing the victim Ms. Clarkson. Did she do herself in or did Spector really blow her away? This is a question that is left hanging.Mirren seemed to be drawn to the role and by film's end has doubts whether or not Spector is guilty.