Al Pacino has starred in some of the greatest movies of all time, received multiple award nominations and received many accolades in his long career. Among those awards are a handful of Razzies, two of which he received for starring in the Adam Sandler abomination Jack and Jill, something he has revealed he did for one specific reason – he was broke.
Jack and Jill, like many of Sandler’s movies, was a mixed bag of juvenile humor, with the comedy star playing the dual roles of both Jack and Jill – yes, it was one of those movies. The story, if you can really call it that, centered on Sandler’s advertising executive Jack, who is anticipating the arrival of his twin sister Jill for Thanksgiving, and attempting to get Al Pacino to appear in an ad for Dunkin’ Donuts. While the film crashed and burned in every respect, Pacino was singled out as the only highlight of the movie – even if it did earn him two Razzies in the process.
During an in depth look at his life with The New York Times, Pacino explained that circumstances around his accountant being jailed and his bank balance taking a dive directly led to him agreeing to appear in the film.
“I think we should start off with Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill. I think that’s funny. It came at a time in my life that I needed it, because it was after I found out I had no more money. My accountant was in prison, and I needed something quickly. So I took this. There’s this thing I do in that film: They got me doing a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial. You know how many people think I actually made that commercial?”
Al Pacino’s Career Hit a Low Point with Jack and Jill
Every actor has that movie they really should not have done, and for Al Pacino, Jack and Jill was definitely it. Although the actor had his reasons, the film did land him with the worst Rotten Tomatoes score of his career. With just a 3% Tomatometer score, the film’s place on the bottom of Pacino’s heap is hard to deny, and one that seems unlikely to be beaten as the holder of that title.
However, it is hard to keep a talented actor down, and the last decade of Pacino’s career has produced several very memorable performances from one of the greatest actors of a generation. Some of the roles that were much more deserving of Pacino’s talents included the title character in 2015’s Danny Collins, Jimmy Hoffa in the Martin Scorsese epic The Irishman, and Marvin Schwarz in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
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Pacino’s upcoming movies look like they will be avoiding – knowingly – getting into another mess like Jack and Jill. The actor will appear in Johnny Depp-directed Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness, which recently received a strong reception at the San Sebastian Film Festival, and The Ritual with Dan Stevens. With several other movies in pre-production, Pacino is defying his 84 years to continue his Hollywood journey well into his twilight years.