Danny Collins 2015 American comedy-drama film

Danny Collins is a 2015 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Dan Fogelman in his feature directorial debut. Inspired by the true story of folk singer Steve Tilston, the film stars Al Pacino, Annette Bening, Jennifer Garner, Bobby Cannavale, and Christopher Plummer. The film was released in theaters on March 20, 2015.

Aging 1970s rocker Danny Collins (Al Pacino) cannot give up his hard-living ways – but then his manager, Frank Grubman (Christopher Plummer), uncovers a 40-year-old undelivered letter to him from John Lennon. After reading the letter, Danny decides to change his way of life. He travels to New Jersey to connect with his grown son, whom he has never met. Before leaving, he discovers that his young fiancé has been sleeping with another man in their home. He gives them his blessing and allows them to stay in the house.

Danny checks into a Hilton hotel in New Jersey, much to the delight of the young staff. He meets a valet (Josh Peck), a front-desk clerk (Melissa Benoist), and the hotel manager, Mary (Annette Bening). 

CastAl Pacino as Danny Collins
Annette Bening as Mary Sinclair
Jennifer Garner as Samantha Leigh Donnelly
Bobby Cannavale as Tom Donnelly
Christopher Plummer as Frank Grubman
Katarina Čas as Sophie
Giselle Eisenberg as Hope Donelly
Melissa Benoist as Jamie
Josh Peck as Nicky Ernst
Eric Michael Roy as Young Danny Collins

BackgroundThe story is based on a real-life situation, in which John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote a letter in 1971 to the English folk singer Steve Tilston, which was unknown to him for 34 years. The real letter was signed "John + Yoko", while the letter in the movie was signed "John".

ProductionIn November 2010, Steve Carell was attached to play the rocker's son but he ultimately dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. In June 2011, Al Pacino was in discussions to star in the film. In October 2012, Jeremy Renner was announced as Carrell's replacement and Julianne Moore also joined the film. Both were eventually also replaced; by Bobby Cannavale and Annette Bening, respectively. Filming began in July 2013 in Los Angeles.The crew filmed a scene with Al Pacino during a concert of the band Chicago in Los Angeles.

ReceptionDanny Collins received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 77%, based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Thanks to Al Pacino's stirring central performance — and excellent work from an esteemed supporting cast — Danny Collins manages to overcome its more predictable and heavy-handed moments to deliver a heartfelt tale of redemption."On Metacritic, the film has a score of 58 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Entertainment Weekly's Chris Nashawaty named the film one of 2015's "overlooked gems".