Al Pacino plays a “washed up” thespian embarking on a spell in rehab in the first trailer for The Humbling.
Director Barry Levinson’s film is based on the last novel by Philip Roth.
The Humbling tells the story of a legendary but deluded stage actor. He has an affair with a “flirtatious lesbian” half his age (Greta Gerwig) at a secluded country house rehab clinic in Connecticut. It’s described as a tragic comedy about a man who has lived inside his own imagination for too long.
In the trailer Pacino’s Simon Axler confesses: “I’m having trouble separating a scene from a play with real life…” He jokes about rehab: “Say it doesn’t work out here for me and I go home and I kill myself. Can I get my money back?”
Also starring Dianne Wiest, Kyra Sedgwick, Dylan Baker and Charles Grodin, The Humbling is released in the US January 23. Levinson also directed Rainman and Wag the Dog. A UK release date is yet to be announced.
Pacino was made a fellow of the British Film Institute at a ceremony in London last month.
The Heat actor will also appear on screen in the drama Manglehorn directed by David Gordon Green (Joe, Pineapple Express). The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August and will be released next year.
Watch the new trailer for The Humbling below.