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?”
Stars 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.