Al Pacino’s 10 best movies ranked

Al Pacino turns 81 today. The Oscar-winning star of “The Godfather” franchise remains one of the all-time greatest actors with countless masterful performances in some of Hollywood’s most beloved movies.

He had a huge 2019 appearing in new films from Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, showing the world he still has the chops that made him a legend, ultimately earning his ninth Oscar nomination. He’ll next appear in Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci,” due later this year.

To wish the entertainment icon a happy birthday, we’ll share our 10 favorite films of his. Read our picks (and honorable mentions) below:

10) Scent of a Woman (1992)

You might think Pacino’s lone Oscar win deserves a higher spot on the list, but let’s be honest, the man deserved an Academy Award long before he finally got it in 1992. Martin Brest’s drama follows a prep student who takes a job as an assistant to an irritable, blind, medically retired Army lieutenant colonel (Pacino). Seen as a sympathy Oscar and later mocked by impressionists because of “Hoo-ah!,” but it’s certainly more than that, with Pacino at his manic best.

9) Donnie Brasco (1997)

Johnny Depp plays an FBI undercover agent who infiltrates the mob, getting cozy with Pacino’s sad sack Lefty, a gangster well past his prime. Bitter but seasoned, Pacino goes against type perfectly, a far cry from the excess of “Scarface.”

8) The Irishman (2019)

Martin Scorsese seemingly stepped back into the wheelhouse of fast-paced and violent gangster stuff, only to bring us a more meditative look at mortality, sin and regret, with Pacino’s frantic take on Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa at the center of his pal Robert De Niro’s moral dilemma. Worthy of Oscar, Pacino picked up his first nomination since his win in 1993.

7) Dick Tracy (1990)

Buried under layers of Oscar-winning makeup, Pacino hammed it up more than ever as gangster Big Boy Caprice, foil to Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy. Pacino perfectly embodies the comic strip spirit in Beatty’s vibrant and colorful adaptation, featuring an equally game all-star cast. Watching him teach Madonna how to sing and dance is something else.

6) Scarface (1983)

“Over the top” doesn’t begin to describe Pacino’s madcap (and iconic) take on Cuban refugee Tony Montana who emigrated to 1980s Miami and became a powerful drug lord. Written by Oliver Stone and directed by Brian De Palma, the film earned cult classic status, thanks in large part to its soundtrack, violent shootouts and Pacino’s legendary delivery of lines like “Say hello to my little friend!”

5) Heat (1995)

Michael Mann’s bank heist thriller marks one of the greatest crime films ever made, finally pairing Pacino with his longtime acting equal Robert De Niro on screen together. The long-anticipated, dialogue-heavy diner showdown more than lives up to the hype, with the heavyweights trading blows ahead of a big screen robbery and shootout for the ages. But beyond the bullets, Pacino’s anguished detective sells the story through his marital troubles and struggles with the brutality of police work.

4) The Godfather (1972)

Marlon Brando rightly won an Oscar for his iconic turn as the Godfather himself, Vito Corleone, and James Caan and Robert Duvall certainly stole their seasons. But the heartbeat of Francis Ford Coppola’s gangster saga was Pacino’s calm and tragic transformation as Michael. The young war hero, who promised he’d never succumb to the lure of his family’s crime enterprise, ultimately takes a leap into the darkness he only thought he could avoid.

3) Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Sidney Lumet’s searing Brooklyn-set drama finds Pacino as a hopelessly desperate man attempting to rob a bank to pay for his lover’s sex reassignment surgery. Sharing intense, heartbreaking and often funny scenes with late screen legends like John Cazale and Charles Durning, Pacino proved few could match his energy as one of Hollywood’s most gifted leading men.

2) Serpico (1973)

Pacino wears every ounce of paranoia and anxiety as honest New York undercover cop Frank Serpico who blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him. He didn’t take bribes or guff and nearly suffered the ultimate sacrifice for trying to do the right thing in Sidney Lumet’s brilliant biopic.

1) The Godfather Part II (1974)

Vito Corleone was a vicious murderer whose business hurt people, but he masked it a geniality his son could not replicate. Once Michael fell down the criminal rabbit hole, his fate was cruelty and tragedy, becoming 10 times the monster his father was. Throughout Frances Ford Coppola 3-hour epic, Pacino barely feigns a smile as a crime boss who had every intention of avoiding this fate. His cold-blooded nature compromises the one thing his father valued most — family — losing his grip on it at every turn.

Honorable mentions: Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), The Insider (1999), Insomnia (2002), Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), Jack and Jill (2011)

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