The PBS American Experience documentary of the life of Eugene O'Neill (do I really need to tell you the name of the director?) combined a synopsis of O'Neill's tragic life with samplings of his work, read aloud by "some of the most gifted actors working in theater today, including Al Pacino, Zoe Caldwell, Christopher Plummer, Robert Sean Leonard, Liam Neeson, and Vanessa Redgrave," or so says pbs.org.
Pacino's reading of Hickey's soliloquy from "The Iceman Cometh" reminds one of Buddy Hackett and Jerry Lewis suffering a collective aneurysm. I felt I had to include a clip of this to show just how far the mighty have fallen. If you don't walk away from this clip holding your head and screaming "This is SO BAD!," then your opinion means nothing to me. As for Eugene O'Neill, he is not only rolling over in his grave, but has reportedly resumed drinking in excess after seeing this particular mangling of his work.
To be fair, Christopher Plummer, who read a long passage from "A Long Day's Journey Into Night," was absolutely brilliant. Liam Neeson fared little better than Pacino, but then nobody expected much. The others were fine, and overall, I would still recommend the documentary highly, even though it's in that annoying (and totally played out) Ric Burns style. Go here to read more about it.
But first, go here to download the video of Pacino's clip. You won't be sorry.
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