HBO Brings PATERNO to DVD with a Tragic Story

Jeri Jacquin

On DVD this week from director Barry Levinson and HBO Home Entertainment comes an intense story surrounding the legendary coach PATERNO.

It is 2011 and Joe Paterno (Al Pacino), coach of Penn State football, is about to have a life long career set on a path of destruction. Retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky has been outed by reporter Sara Ganim (Riley Keough) of The Patriot-News for sexually abusing young men.

Shocked by the Sandusky allegations, Paterno continues with his coaching responsibilities as wife Sue (Kathy Baker) and family Jay (Larry Mitchell), Scott (Greg Grunberg), and Mary Kay (Annie Parisse) doesn’t understand his seeming lack of concern. As the family reads the presentment, they are each horrified at what has happened. Speaking with them, Paterno says that in 2001 he had heard about an incident and reported it right away.

Telling athletic director Tim Curley and University President Graham Spanier, Paterno thought it was all handled. The Paterno family rallies together to try and discover the best way to handle the situation but the media frenzy is way ahead of them. Ganim also continues to investigate and loses friends in the process as they refuse to believe that Paterno had anything to do with a cover up.

When the university decides to end Paterno’s career, Penn State students begin to gather on campus for a night of protesting. Reporter Ganim tries to report the feelings of the students only to be surprised that although they believe in Paterno, they won’t go public with their feelings.

Now Paterno is facing his own mortality and has to think about what he was told and how things became so out of control. “I tried to spend my whole life making my name mean something” – and now it forever attached to a horrible crime.

Pacino as Paterno is such a sad character to watch because here is a man who had one of the most notable football coaching careers of all time yet he seemed to not understand what is happening. The scene where he realizes his own kids once played in a pool with Sandusky forces Paterno to go into his own memory and live with the choices he made then. Pacino is powerful and intense showing the mortality and frail life of a man who focused on football and didn’t see the bigger picture – or did he?

Bates as wife Sue is horrified at the Sandusky allegations and is conflicted as to whether her husband truly understands what is at stake.  Mitchell as Jay does his best to understand his father’s explanations and along with Grunberg as Scott want people to focus on the victims and not their father. Parisse as Mary Kay is just as confused about her father’s reactions as her mother Sue yet wants to protect Paterno as much as possible.

Keough as Ganim is a young reporter who manages to do what the big networks can not – get those who are the victims to come forward and tell their truth. Elvis’ granddaughter does herself well in this film and although the role is small, it is important in following the trail.

Other cast include: Michael Mastro as Guido D’Elia, Joshua Morgan as Bobby, Mitchel Mack as Devon Smith, Darren Goldstein as Mike McQueary, Nicholas Sadler as Todd, Julian Gamble as Galen Hall, William Hill as Tom Bradley, Kaliswa Brewster as Mara Lewis, Josh Mowery as Ron Vanderlinden and Joseph Setticase as Drew Astorino.

HBO Home Entertainment has an extensive array of critically-acclaimed and groundbreaking programs found on Bluray, DVD and Digital HD. They have provided viewers with some of the most amazing programs with huge fan bases that include the shows True Blood, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, True Detectives, The Wire, Entourage and Game of Thrones. Launched in 1984, HBO is world wide in viewed entertainment in more than 70 territories around the world! For more of what they have to offer please visit www.hbo.com.

The DVD includes the Bonus Features About Paterno: Director Barry Levinson and stars Al Pacino and Riley Keough discuss the story behind the film and its perspective and Joe Paterno’s Impact: Barry Levinson and Al Pacino talk about Joe Paterno’s responsibilities relating to the scandal.

PATERNO is a film that will brings into question ‘did he or didn’t he?’ know what was going on in his own organization. Is it possible that Paterno thought he had done all he could (of course we know the answer to that now) or did he believe it was being dealt with? Or, does Pacino’s portrayal of a man who was a genius on the gridiron truly not have one single clue about what he was reading in the Sandusky indictments.

What I find noticeable about PATERNO is that although at times what is described in the indictments is a disturbing, the storytelling can actually be seen as the problem within organize sports. How there are individuals who are willing to overlook anything (and this film proves anything) to keep their records and their fame status quo.

In the end – the greater the legend the harder the fall!

WIZARD OF LIES Comes to Bluray from HBO

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray from director Barry Levinson and HBO Home Entertainment is an inside look at corruption and destruction with WIZARD OF LIES.

Bernie Madoff (Robert De Niro) had one of the biggest businesses on Wall Street. Known for being a wizard of making money, people from all walks of life put their life savings into investments. Along with sons Mark (Alessandro Nivola) and Andrew (Nathan Darrow), they were living the life of success.

That is until Bernie must tell his family that the FBI is investigating the business for fraud. This sets in motion a rush to see who will get the information needed or destroy the information first as the FBI raid the offices. Frank DiPascali (Hank Azaria) makes an effort to get to the 17^th floor first!

As the SEC begin their intense investigation, family, co-workers and investors begin to tell their story of how Bernie brought them all in to the business. Now called the worst Ponzi scheme in American history there is over $50 billion (yes, that billion with a ‘b’) in other people’s money gone.

Bernie doesn’t seem to understand the predicament he is in as wife Ruth (Michelle Pfeiffer) begins to see her family unravel. Mark and Andrew have all but stopped talking to their parents and brother Peter (Michael Kostroff) is make it clear to authorities that he knew nothing of what Bernie had been doing.

When the news catches wind of the story, every person who has ever invested with Madoff comes to the realization that their lives have been destroyed. Bernie and Ruth try to decide how to get free of it all in the most dramatic way possible and his sons are bombarded by the press with the allegation that they knew everything.

As the evidence mounts, there is only one thing Bernie Madoff can do, plead guilty and go to jail. Thinking that will stop everything from reaching his family, he couldn’t be more wrong as Ruth, Mark and Andrew continue to be affected by the lies Bernie told for almost twenty years.

This is the story of one man’s lies to the ruin of lives.

De Niro as Bernie Madoff is amazing to the point where I forgot it was him behind the makeup. The fascinating part of his portrayal of this man is how Madoff can not seem to grasp what he had done. There are moments where I kept saying out loud ‘you’ve got to be kidding me man!’ when he would seem to play innocent. That’s what De Niro does for a character that had me so involved in the story what I’m yelling at a man playing the character of a man I’ll never meet. Frakken awesome!

Pfeiffer as Ruth is a woman who can not even imagine that a man she spent most of her life living with was capable of such a thing. Becoming comfortable in the life that Bernie provided, she can not wrap her head around how deep the affect might be. When it all comes down fast, Pfeiffer just brings on the sadness, sass and pain that came hard. Playing opposite De Niro, she is definitely an equal partner in making this story line work.

Nivola as Mark is a son who just wanted to be a part of his father’s business. Constantly told by his father that he isn’t ready, it all begins to make sense when the FBI steps in. The bigger problem is that Mark can not get past what his father did and the public fallout. It begins to become an obsession that is tragic.

Darrow as Andrew knows the only way to get away from what his father has done is by totaling cutting his parents out. Keeping his family safe from the government and the public means doing what ever he must to set things as right as they can be.

Other cast include Kathrine Narducci as Eleanor Squillari, Steve Coulter as Martin London, David Lipman as Martin Flumenbaum, Kelly AuCoin as Agent Cacioppi, Amanda Warren as the SEC Investigator, Mark La Mura as Ike Sorkin, Kristen Connolly as Stephanie Madoff and Lily Rabe as Catherine Hooper.

HBO Home Entertainment has an extensive array of critically-acclaimed and groundbreaking programs found on Bluray, DVD and Digital HD. They have provided viewers with some of the most amazing programs with huge fan bases that include the shows True Blood, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, True Detectives, The Wire, Entourage and Game of Thrones. Launched in 1984, HBO is world wide in viewed entertainment in more than 70 territories around the world! For more of what they have to offer please visit www.hbo.com.

The WIZARD OF LIES Bluray includes the Bonus Features of In-Depth Interviews with stars Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer plus director Barry Levinson and author Diana B. Henriques. I highly suggest giving this extra a look-see!

WIZARD OF LIES is a compelling look at the story of Bernie Madoff with its twists and turns. The addition of the jail house interview with Diana B. Henriques who wrote Wizard of Lies: Bernard Madoff and the Death of Trust, adds such authenticity and draws the viewer in immediately. I have to say that I was so wrapped up in De Niro and Pfeiffer’s performances that I reacted strongly to the entire film.

Having a look inside the family there is honestly nothing that surprised me in their handling of the situation. How does a family deal with knowing that their lives and everything they believed they have worked for is all a lie? The man they trusted to lead them is a lie? I can not even imagine it.

The script written by Sam Levinson, who also wrote and directed ANOTHER HAPPY DAY, and directed by his father Barry Levinson is well done and shot beautifully. I would expect no less from the Levinson group.

In the end – only those you trust can truly betray you!