The Original Movie: Danny Collins (Al Pacino) is an aging rock star who shot to fame in the 1970s and is largely living out his days playing his old hits ad nauseum while indulging in drink and drugs on a nightly basis. However, this all changes when his manager Frank Grubman (Christopher Plummer) discovers a letter written to him 40 years previously from John Lennon, causing him to re-evaluate his career and attempt to reconnect with his estranged son (Bobby Cannavale). The Ripoff: Back in the 1980s, Ricki (Meryl Streep) abandoned her family in order to pursue a career as a rock star. Over three decades later, her ex-husband (Kevin Kline) asks her to return home to help their daughter Julie (Streep's real-life daughter, Mamie Gummer) through some relationship woes. It's another take on the fairly unique "world-class actor plays against-type as a legendary rock musician trying to straighten out their life" plot, and though the two projects are being released just a few months shy of one another, Pacino's film was shooting over a year before Streep's, and had been in the works for almost five years.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
