At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Eli Wurman is a New York showbiz publicist who finds himself in danger after Jilli Hopper, the actress girlfriend of his most important client Cary Launer, is murdered. Launer is a Hollywood star considering running for political office; Jilli may have known too much about various sex-and-drug scandals involving Launer and other prominent personalities.I was largely persuaded to watch this film by its stellar cast, including Al Pacino, Kim Basinger, Ryan O'Neal and Téa Leoni. That proved to be a mistake. The plot is a total mess, incoherent and hard to follow. It doesn't help that the main character spends most of his time in a haze of drugs and alcohol, and some of the others, especially Jilli, have similar propensities. The audience will probably also feel that they too need to be out of their skulls on one intoxicant or another before they can work out what is going on. The reviewer for "Time Out", while admitting that the film is a mess, commended it for its "rebellious spirit ". He presumably meant that both director and scriptwriter were in rebellion against the received idea that a film ought to make some sort of sense.Just occasionally Pacino and some of his co-stars get a chance to show that, although the film as a whole might seem like evidence to the contrary, they are actually very accomplished actors. I liked the scene between Pacino and Basinger as Eli's sister-in-law Victoria (which doesn't seem to have much relevance to the action) and some of the scenes where Eli is trying to organise a fundraising dinner for some liberal cause. (Eli wants representatives of both the black and Jewish communities to be present, but this is more difficult than it sounds, given that the black representative, a fiery clergyman obviously based upon Al Sharpton, regards Jews as insufficiently supportive of the black cause and has a history of making anti-Semitic remarks).These, however, are just occasional flashes of light in an otherwise dull film. You should never judge a book by its cover. Or a film by the big names in the cast list. 3/10

Well, it's not a very positive world that is shown in this movie. As Kim Basinger's character (Vicc) says towards the end, "We are all kind of lurching"- this is so true. E.'s (Al Pacino) life is pathetic, to say the less. The only hope, the only sunshine ray in this movie comes from the real, deep friendship between Vicc and E. It's a great film, though, because there no bullshit in there. It goes beyond apparency. All these political and Hollywood characters are rotten, to the core, and in fact, desperate. They get drowned into alcohol, drugs and sex to loose sight of themselves. They have lost sense of real life, of real self. As far as interpretation is concerned, Kim Basinger, Al Pacino, Ryan O'Neal and Tea Leoni are all great along with the other actors. Probably the best performance of Al Pacino's career ! There, he is, far from his early Actors Studio style (a technique which most of the time gave poor results, artificial play) , just so true, so simple, so natural, in every detail. Whatever, better not look at this movie if you are already depressed or moody ! Watch it when you feel great, rather. Then, it won't affect you and you'll be able to appreciate it for what it is: a study of our times made by a naturalist.

The only good thing about "People I Know" is that it serves as a perfect example of movies that Al Pacino should avoid performing in. The first big turn-off I had was the way in which Pacino tried to portray a Georgia accent; at times it was weak and unattractive while in other segments it seemed too overdone. Dialogue and character interaction was terrible along with a weak plot. The supporting cast did an extremely perfunctory job in keeping the movie interesting, and within an hour I still saw no signs of a sturdy plot. The story overall is a real bore, and I had to slap myself in the face a few times to keep myself awake.This movie will surely bore you as well...avoid at all costs.

Forget about the plot. This is all about one man's private torment as he hangs onto relevance on the fringes of showbiz. Al Pacino gives perhaps his greatest performance of all as he combines sleaze, cynicism, self-indulgence, obsession and self-deprecation and yet manages to retain a flicker of integrity in spite of the cesspit of decadence that is about to engulf him. Most of the nicer sides of life are totally absent from this world-weary tale yet, when the odd little bit breaks through, it is surprisingly touching. Even as Pacino disintegrates and you know for certain that there won't be a happy ending, you're almost on your feet cheering him on in the face of adversity. Worth watching just to see the master in action and, as an added bonus, a small but beautifully sympathetic appearance by Kim Basinger.