Paterno

source: Paterno

Barry Levinson's Paterno wants the viewer to know that this legendary college football coach, Penn State University and its football team supporters cared more about its football program than the fate of some of the young people sexualy abused by an assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky. The film opaquely hints as to how much Paterno might had known as to the abuse taking place and like other people just turned a blind eye. After a wonderful expansive opening where Paterno as head coach takes the team to a record breaking streak. This HBO film settles down as a Shakespearean tragedy, almost like a stage play. Al Pacino's Paterno is a man out of his time. Confused, weak and sick. He is an octogenarian who knows all about college football but has no way to handle the mess he finds himself in. The film contrasts Paterno's fate with that of local newspaper reporter Sara Ganim (Riley Keough) who doggedly pursued the story of the child abuse and who earned the trust of the families. However the flip flopping between the two story strands feels like a distraction. Levinson's approach comes across as mild, even anodyne lacking the moral outrage of a movie like Spotlight.

I tracked this story and still have all the ESPN podcast interviews and "in the moment" reactions. This film is extremely significant to understanding man, institutions, and human behavior! If you understand the Christian doctrine of The Fall and idolatry, this movies makes a whole lot of sense. If not, than it is up to you to come up with a salient apology for mankind. There are a few proverbial statements that will help anyone who wants to see and understand. The first is; You cannot get a man to understand something if his career depends upon him NOT understanding--Upton Sinclair The second is; The frog in water analogy. Drop a frog in hot water and he will jump out, slowly raise the temperature and the frog in water will boil to death. The last is the movie Bridge on A River Kwai. A noble man who got lost in his own glory, a bridge to reflect himself--an idol! In the process, he sacrificed the lives of his soldiers for noble causes motivated to build a bridge to reflect himself! Take all three of these and blend them up and you have Joe Pa. Keep in mind Joe is not the criminal here, but he turned deaf, dumb, and blind because of his own glory...reputation, Joe was guilty of looking the other way in the same manner those who knew Harvey Weinstein was molesting and raping women or Bill Cosby...there are always enablers along the way, those who because of their own career, rationalize to get part of the pie, even leftovers. Then there are the loyalists. This resembles a cult. Cult members who will not hear the truth because it taps their idolatry--a warped sense of identity and pride. It is here we have religion! Religion allows one to compromise common sense for the greater good because to face the truth means one's life has been spent in vanity! Nothing is worse for the soul than to realize you spent your entire life worshiping the wrong religion! Joe Paterno was most likely guilty of his own ego. His own desire to be the best at all costs. Al Pachino sadly reminds me of my own father, Italian good ol boy that plays the game, has no clear sense of self and the group, club, organization, church becomes his soul source of who he is. There is an arrogance here that is disturbing. What is weird is I had an Uncle George that never got married as well. This movie really hits home in my family.

Very disappointed in this sketchy HBO presentation. which glosses over many key characters and injects bits and pieces of real events and presumed behaviors to a viewing audience which can be easily confused by the scattershot script and direction. It seemed like a series of story boards out of order. The film needed much more character development, as well as more coherent storytelling.

This was an inaccurate and disgusting dipection of Joe Paterno and the Penn State community.

Looking at the film OBJECTIVELY, Barry Levinson does a fine job presenting the story centered on Paterno during the aftermath of the Sandusky sex abuse scandal without any major bias. Its to be expected that some who will see this film will simply condemn it or trash it based upon their own emotional or bias connection to the subject matter. I believe that this film does a great job portraying several aspects. One, just how disgusting and awful the actual child sex abuse scandal was and how it even affected the first victim who broke his silence. Then we have initial reporter who helped bring the story to life. Thirdly, the film effectively displays how it affected Paterno and his family in the aftermath. Lastly and most of all how Paterno himself handled the entire situation. If nothing else, this film provides a general condemnation of inaction and corruption with regards to the abuse and not taking quicker action on it. Al Pacino completely immersed himself into the character of Joe Paterno. Pacino is measured and controlled with how he portrays Paterno's struggle to come to terms with the Sandusky abuse, and how he possibly overlooked certain signs from the past, and even the betrayal of that partnership/friendship. Like some vintage Pacino performances (aka: Michael Corleone), he communicates so much emotion through the use of his eyes and silence. Several scenes involve Paterno just sitting while his family debates and the question continues to be posed to him if he knew anything else or if he ever spoke to the child. Pacino brilliantly captures the overwhelming dread and sadness that filled the final days of his Paterno's life and how this particular dark moment that will forever change Paterno's career and legacy. Don't pay attention to all of the negative reviews on here from those that clearly have an agenda to do so. As a dramatic exploration of a man, Joe Paterno, who was a larger then life legend at Penn State and his sad downfall, the film succeeds on all levels, particularly Pacino's performance.

Cable TV is really hitting it out of the park these days. Paterno is one of the better movies I've seen in awhile including theatrical movies. I probably don't need to recap the entire plot for anyone, since the news covered it widely at the time. This film centers on the horrific Penn State scandal of sexual molestation of young boys by a man who was at one time on the Penn State coaching staff and was a "pillar of the community." What makes this different though than any news coverage you've seen is that it goes inside Joe Paterno 's life to show the downfall of a community and sports icon from the inside. Of course, one must take into account that filmmakers take some license when it comes portraying Paterno and his family. While I'm sure they did their research, they weren't actually sitting at his dining room table for those intimate encounters with his kids during the aftermath of all of this. I think a question that most people had when they heard about the scandal was, "What was Joe Paterno thinking? Why did this powerful leader not do more? What was going on inside head?" This movie delves into that, giving an interesting and very possible take on what really was going on inside Paterno's head. Other great things about this movie: Riley Keough is fantastic as the reporter who originally breaks the case, and Al Pacino is so amazing as Paterno that you will forget you are even watching Pacino.

The movie ignores a lot of the facts for dramatic effect. Just a reminder that no matter how much you hate penn state, Joe Paterno was NOT the sexual abuser in this scandal. The "scandal" movie would have been better suited to a movie that was actual about the person who committed the heinous crime and not just another smear of the well-known legend. This wasn't Paterno's scandal.

Penn State football is much more than football. The reason for that is Joe Pa. His almost god-like status didn't come about by just amassing wins. His emphasis on academics and integrity was widely known in central PA for generations. Al Pacino (not surprisingly) gives a touching portrayal of a good-hearted man who failed to recognize the level of evil in his midst. I found myself tearing up a number of times, getting into the torment he must've felt on so many levels. The victims themselves, the school, his players, his legacy. Such a sad story for everyone involved. The movie seemed to portray events fairly accurately. Although I do remember the truly somber mood at the Nebraska game. There wasn't much cheering. Both teams not only walked out onto the field arm in arm, but they did so in almost complete silence. The movie doesn't really show that very well although you do hear announcers talking about the teams kneeling in prayer together. The phone call at the end of the movie from another possible victim gives an uneasy impression that Joe may have known more than he let on. The fact that there's no one left alive to confirm or deny John Doe 150's claim from years earlier is a further reminder of how the sins of one man have affected so many.

Many of the low reviews are from the Paterno faithful. I found this a very fair accounting of how an institution protects profits and status quo, and the subjects willing to follow their leader regardless of wrongs. Of course Pacino is brilliant. This is 10 out of 10, don't be fooled.