Al Pacino and Barry Levinson's third HBO collaboration about complicated and vein men -- following biopics on Jack Kevorkian and Phil Spector -- has Pacino in his most effective performance of the three films, says Hank Stuever. "Despite its resonance with the present-day zeal for revealing predators and supporting victims," he adds, "Paterno (premiering Saturday) offers almost none of the catharsis or thematic energy that comes with TV’s recent fixation on sensational cases and scandals; the film seems caught in a pause of uncertainty, as if constantly asking: 'Do we really have to go over this?'"
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TOPICS: Paterno, HBO, Al Pacino, Barry Levinson, Joe Paterno, Riley Keough