Wednesday, February 18, 2009

My love for Al

Al Pacino. My hero. The only man that I would say I have a crush on. A man's man.

The style, confidence, bravado, and all-knowing Al Pacino. There hasn't been a role he has played that I haven't taken a piece of and tried to incorporate in my own personality.

Whether it be the leadership qualities he possessed in the Godfather series, the combination of his self-deprecating and confident manners in A Scent of a Woman, or the fearlessness and determined Tony Montana in Scarface, Pacino has the it that I want. He is just one bitching dude.

I can recite line after line that he has uttered in his movies. I often do in my own life. A few examples:

"Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in.", said in Godfather III. I used it when I returned to coaching football after a three-year stint as a golf coach.

"I always tell the truth. Even when I lie.", said in Scarface. My favorite response whenever asked if I am bullshitting or not.

"There are two kinds of people in this world. The first group is the people who face the music; the second group are those who run for cover.", as Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman. I have used this with students who have found trouble.

One line that I have always wanted to use, but haven't found the right opportunity to is the famous, "Say hello to my little friend!" That scene from Scarface gets me every time.

The only appropriate time I have thought of saying it would be before sex. I have not in fear of ruining the mood.

Even as a parent, Al Pacino is in me. As a young child, I remember watching Author! Author! with my parents and thinking that he played a great father. He was a single parent who showed vividly how to handle all the challenges of raising kids on his own.

My favorite scene from the movie is one that I often play out with my own girls. After a long day at work, Pacino enters his house and begins to talk about everything he did during his day to his kids. He ends it by screaming "I forgot to beat my kids!", and runs around the house chasing his kids.

Ever so often when I come home, I calmly walk into the kitchen and begin to spew off details of my own day. Then I yell, "I forgot to tickle my kids!"

As soon as the words leave my mouth, my girls take off running all over the house with me close behind. They want to be caught. They need to be caught. And, sooner rather than later, they are caught.

I dive into them, tickle them to near tears, then leave them in a hump on the ground breathless. Each of them possessing a smile on their face that can't be beat.

It is the closest to being Al Pacino I can get.

15 comments:

  1. How sweet. Chaneling your inner Al.
    One day, my 10 year old son said (on front of a large group of people of course) "Say hello to my little friend" My draw dropped and then I said "where did you hear that cause I have NEVER let you watch that movie!?" His first words were "what movie?". Thank God! Aparently it's on some video game he plays at his dads.

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  2. Love Al Pacino, I use his movie 'The Insider' as part of my 'smoke reduction programme' at work...He is so debonair, drop dead gorgeous...and one of those actors who has aged brilliantly... love the vision of you coming home to your daughters... i usually drag my sorry self through the door...

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  3. We love Al Pacino too!
    On a different topic...we just watched The Express, the Ernie Davis story on DVD....My Hubby and I loved it and it also has my crush...Dennis Quaid in it! :)

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  4. Thanks for visiting my blog....

    You've got a man crush, so sweet. Al is pretty darn cool, for sure. I just saw him in Righteous Kill. It was great. Have you seen that one yet? He's also set to play the artist Salvador Dali in a film about his life. That will be VERY interesting.

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  5. Pacino. Eh.

    I do like the tickle thing, though.

    I've always done this thing with my dogs and then with Ryan when she was little, where I say, "Come here so I can beat you with a big stick." They always come... for hugs (my big stick broke a long time ago and I never got another one ;)

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  6. Who doesnt think Al is the bomb??? I do think its cute you have a "man-crush" hehehe

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  7. Ooh, I loved tickle fights with my dad. He ruined me for a foot massage, though. To this day, whenever someone so much as touches my feet, I squirm and squeal.

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  8. I love playing tickle laugh your butt off with my boys, and to practice Tae Kwon Do blocking, we play tickle kwon do!

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  9. I've never seen the "forgot to beat the kids" scene but it is a great one!

    I loved "Scent of a Woman"; whenever I hear the music he did the tango to, I just stop and listen and think of that scene.

    Oooh-ah...

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  10. He sure is a great actor. I like the fact that he does not appear to have had any plastic surgery, & is aging as a 'real' person.

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  11. Now you got me considering (appropriate) times for that quote "Say hello to my little friend!" I'll have to get back to you on it.

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  12. awww, I love that ...your girls - I picture them laughing with delight. :) How fun!

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  13. Are you gay? Can we hook up if so?

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  14. Al Pacino DOES rock. Though I don't think you want to refer to your unit as your "little" friend. :)

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  15. I can't remember the name of the movie, even though we watched it the other night. It was one of his recent movies. Robert DeNiro was in it. It was a little boring (at least to us) but we kept watching it because of Al.

    My husband and I kept saying, "He is one heck of an actor." He just gets better with age.

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