Unfortunately, Al Pacino, the "Big Al" of the title, is almost incidental to Bryan Goluboff's skimpy 90-minute comedy about male friendship. Leo (Juan Carlos Hernandez) and Ricky (Frank Whaley) are proof that opposites attract. One is over the edge, still living like a superannuated fraternity boy. The other lives in fear of his (absent) spouse. They share a common dream of making it big as scriptwriters with their names in large Hollywood credits.
Pacino dominates the first scene (of four), which explains why it's the liveliest. Leo, who is obsessed, has not only filled the room with pictures and a chart of Pacino's roles--all in preparation for writing a script--but imitates the actor's most memorable film lines complete with gestures and follow-up grunts of appreciation. Ricky, who's been summoned from bed at midnight, falls into the hero worship, especially when he learns that Leo has made a solid contact who will look at the script.
Just the idea of Pacino sparks their creative drive as they plot script ideas, imagining the actor as a cripple, a hustler, or a priest. You can almost see the film as they flesh out a scene or two--but then comes Leo's ugly bit with the knife--and the dream collapses. The next three scenes are packed with melodrama, psychobabble, and violence.
Under Evan Bergman's direction, the actors--David Thornton, the third performer, plays a psycho thug--play it flat. Not a subtext or nuance in sight, although all the performers come with good credits. "Big Al" itself received critical praise in its first life, as a 30-minute cable TV script. What was impressive in this production was Chad McArver's simple set, which transformed into four separate locations with unobtrusive ease.