Cillian Murphy picks up his paint brush for Dali & I

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Al Pacino is still one of the best actors around if you ask me and although his career choices in recent years have to be questioned, you'll never be able to convince me that he has 'lost it' or has taken a step in effort wise over his last few movies. Just look at his superb turn in The Merchant of Venice in 2004 to see that he is quite capable of putting in a great dramatic performance when he is given the right kind of material. Teaming once again with Robert De Niro for the cop movie Righteous Kill was a smart move and the curiosity factor of seeing both actors together on the screen at the same time should be enough to make that film at least a mild success. That was probably the smartest role he has taken on for quite some time, though his turn in Ocean's Thirteen was memorable enough to raise his profile a little with the mainstream audience who probably hadn't seen an Al Pacino movie in years. Then of course there's this Salavador Dali biopic on the horizon for Pacino where he plays the lead role of the flamboyant artist during the latter years of his life, when all the works he will be remembered for are already painted. The Hollywood Reporter say the movie has just nabbed it's second star in Cillian Murphy, who will play young art dealer Stan Lauryssens, a character who enjoyed an almost student like relationship to the surrealist artist during the latter years of his life. Murphy and Pacino? Yeah I could see some chemistry there for sure and let's face it... any movie that has Pacino leading what is essentially a character driven piece has to be a good thing. Shooting is set to begin early next year on location in Spain and New York with Pacino's S1mone director at the helm for Room 5 Entertainment.