A drama centered on the relationship between Phil Spector and defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden while the music business legend was on trial for the murder of Lana Clarkson.
Helen Mirren
Linda Kenney Baden
Al Pacino
Phil Spector
Jeffrey Tambor
Bruce Cutler
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Mock Prosecutor
Rebecca Pidgeon
Dr. Fallon
John Pirruccello
Nick Stavros
James Tolkan
Judge Fidler
David Aaron Baker
ADA Alan Jackson
Matt Malloy
Dr. Spitz
Jenn Lyon
Focus Group Woman #3
Suzanne Turner
Woman (uncredited)
Yolonda Ross
Kelly
Jack Wallace
Music Store Owner
Dominic Hoffman
Mr. Brown
Philip Martin
James
Anthony Quarles
Bodyguard
Vernon Campbell
Bodyguard
Adalgiza Chermont
Focus Group Woman
Gail Silver
Focus Group Woman
Steve Park
Focus Group Man
Ella Dershowitz
Maggie - Paralegal
Noah Mamet
Barbarian Boy
Geisha Otero
Cleaning Woman
Tatiana Godfrey
Bailiff
Kate Blumberg
Woman on Stand
Gordon De Vol
Anchorman
Mary B. McCann
Court Newscaster
Lauren Schacher
Reporter
Clara Mamet
Back to Mono Girl
Natalija Nogulich
Giovanetta Ricci
Beverly Brooks
Mansion Newscaster
Neil Pepe
Interviewer
Tony Mamet
Barry
Linda Kimbrough
Mock Judge
Martin Jarvis
British TV Interviewer
Bob Jennings
LAPD Officer Smith
Thomas J. Calagna
Recording Mixer
Richard L. Friedman
Lawyer
Matthew Rauch
Mike
Meghan Marx
Lana Clarkson
Jessica Wood
Gun Test Woman
Joey Auzenne
Bellhop
Linda Miller
Ronnie Spector
Alfredo Narciso
Assistant
Stephen Tyrone Williams
Producer
Kimko
Mock Bailiff
Jehan-Pierre 'The Preacher' Vassau
Policeman
Steve McAuliff
Bodyguard
Lizza Monet Morales
Irene
Stephen A. Pope
Ms. Baden's Chauffeur
George Aguilar
Mr. Spector's Chauffeur
Chris Cenatiempo
LAPD Policeman
Tom Bruno
Court House Policeman
Jonathan Forte
Musician in Recording Session
Peter Conboy
L.A. Country Sheriff (uncredited)
Jill DeMonstoy
Protester (uncredited)
Angel Dillemuth
Valet (uncredited)
David Henry Gerson
Interviewer (uncredited)
Don Gomez
George - Bodyguard (uncredited)
Jordan Lage
Bit Part (uncredited)
Dennis Lauricella
Juror (uncredited)
Michael Maren
Courtroom Journalist (uncredited)
Stevan Lee Mraovitch
Adriano de Souza (uncredited)
George Peck
Courtroom Attorney (uncredited)
Cynthia Silver
Woman (uncredited)
Tom Stratford
Los Angeles County Sheriff (uncredited)
Rick Toscano
Young Phil (uncredited)
Steve Triebes
Defense Lawyer (uncredited)
Uzimann
Business Traveler (uncredited)
Emilio Vitolo
Protestor (uncredited)
Todd Weeks
Interviewer (uncredited)
Director, Screenplay
David Mamet
September 3, 2022
1
Phil Spector begins by warning us that “This is a work of fiction. It is not based on a true story. It is a drama inspired by real people in a trial, but it is not an attempt to represent the real people, nor to comment on the trial or its outcome.”
This raises several questions. First, if it’s not an attempt to represent real people, why are the characters named after real people? Are you trying to tell me that this is a movie about a record producer charged with murder named Phil Spector, but it's not a movie about actual record producer charged with murder Phil Spector?
Second, the fictional Phil Spector is indicted for the murder of actress and model Lana Clarkson, just like the real Phil Spector; how then can the movie claim that it’s not based on a true story? Third, if it’s not an attempt to comment on the trial or its outcome, what’s the hell’s the point?
This should have been either a film à clef or a documentary — to paraphrase John the Revelator, either hot or cold because I spit the lukewarm out of my mouth —; as it is, though, it’s neither fish nor fowl. What the movie actually is is the opposite of what it purports to be; i.e., behind its claim to objectivity, the film is subjective to the point of hagiography. According to writer/director David Mamet, Spector (Al Pacino) was nothing more than a "beloved eccentric" condemned, not by the evidence against him — little or none, according to the film but by public opinion and an incompetent defense lawyer.
The latter is odd considering that Linda Kenney Baden (Helen Mirren), his defense attorney, served as a consultant for the film; apparently Baden was so entranced by Spector and grief-stricken that she couldn't save him from a wrongful conviction, that she simply forgot, when advising Mamet, about the prosecution's evidence that refutes her evidence — her evidence being the sole basis on which the movie swears by Spector's innocence.
But the revisionism of the film is not limited to Spector, and reaches Baden as well; for example, the fictional Baden declares that she will not "attack the girl", that is, Clarkson, to defend Spector; in fact, the defense did attack Clarkson in court, going so far as to show a video of Clarkson in blackface imitating Little Richard, unlike the fictional Baden, who refuses to use this footage (this doesn’t mean by the way that the film as whole doesn’t attack Clarkson) — furthermore, Baden-Mirren appears to be clairvoyant; early in the film she says that since "they let O.J." go, Spector will pay the piper; “He will be tried for the murder of O.J.’s wife and he will be found guilty” (and if this isn't a comment on the trial or its outcome, I don't know what the hell it is).
All things considered, it’s ironic when the movie asserts that “The prosecution has nothing except everyone's conviction that [Spector] is guilty”; it’s actually Mamet who has nothing except his conviction that Spector is innocent.
Phil Spector amounts to nothing much other than a reminder that "even Homer nods"; Mamet wrote and/or directed some of the best films of the '90s-mid-2000s, and even his comparatively inferior work could never be accused of dishonesty or malice. However, with this one it becomes clear that this is the Al Pacino movie that should be called The Devil's Advocate.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00