Earlier this year, HBO released an original film called Phil Spector about the legendary music mogul’s first trial for the alleged murder of Lana Clarkson. The movie focused on the relationship between Spector and his attorney at the time, Linda Kenney Baden. While Bette Midler was supposed to play the attorney, she couldn’t continue after three days of filming because she was ill. This role was assumed by Helen Mirren, who did a wonderful job. But Al Pacino as Phil Spector stole the show. His impassioned portrayal of this enigmatic virtuoso was spellbinding. Whenever he was on the screen, I was transfixed, especially when he delivered a stirring speech towards the end of the film. I highly recommend this movie; it’s an engrossing inside-look at the tumultuous world of a music icon that shouldn’t be missed.

Synopsis

Written and directed by David Mamet, Phil Spector is his exploration of the client-attorney relationship between legendary music producer Phil Spector (Al Pacino) and defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden (Helen Mirren), who represented Spector during his first trial for murder. Mamet serves as executive producer with Barry Levinson. The cast also includes Rebecca Pidgeon, Jeffrey Tambor and Chiwetel Ejiofor.