Al Pacino has played many memorable characters throughout his career. From Michael Corleone in The Godfather series to playing the Devil himself in The Devil’s Advocate, the Academy Award-winning actor has proven his range for decades, cementing his status as one of Hollywood’s living legends.
Although Pacino has appeared in a few television productions over the years, his small-screen roles have been relatively rare compared to his extensive film career. One of those roles was in a very peculiar thriller that saw him playing a character with a shocking secret. Unfortunately, this show is set to depart from Netflix in just a few weeks. Trust us when we say this is Pacino at his best.
Al Pacino Shines in ‘Hunters’
The series is Hunters, the Prime Video original that saw Pacino co-star with Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson), Lena Olin (Alias), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), and Dylan Baker (Spider-Man 2), among others. The series was created by David Weil (Citadel) and ran for two seasons from 2020 to 2023.
In Hunters, young Jonah Heidelbaum (Lerman) witnesses his grandmother’s murder. When trying to find some answers, he is recruited by Meyer Offerman (Pacino), a man who claims to be a Holocaust survivor and to have met Jonah’s grandmother in Auschwitz. As it turns out, Jonah’s grandmother was part of a secret group that hunts down former Nazis in hiding.
Joining the hunters, Jonah finds out that the group’s mission goes beyond tracking down individual war criminals, as the Nazis are plotting the rise of a Fourth Reich. However, as he digs deeper, he also discovers that not everyone in the group is who they claim to be.
Naturally, Al Pacino is the series’ most important asset, with the Godfather star stealing every scene he’s in. Although Season 1 focuses on Jonah’s character above anything else, the conclusion delivers a mind-blowing twist about Pacino’s Meyer Offerman.
Needless to say, things get very interesting when Hunters moves beyond a straightforward revenge thriller to explore a much darker story centered on Offerman. For his role in the series, Pacino received a nomination at the Golden Globes for Best Actor – Television Series Drama.
‘Hunters’ Received Criticism Because of Its Unique Tone
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Al Pacino in ‘Hunters’ Season 1 Prime Video -
The ensemble cast of ‘Hunters’ Season 1 Prime Video
Upon release of Season 1 in February 2020, the Prime Video original production received mixed reviews. Some praised the show’s entertaining balance between comedy and thriller elements, but others were more critical of its heightened, almost fantastical approach to historical revenge. Season 1 earned a 65% critics’ score, while Season 2 saw the rating climb slightly to 71%.
Hunters offers a highly stylized take on historical revenge, built around a plot that makes little attempt at realism, and instead focuses on pure revenge tropes. It makes no attempt at revisionism, let alone historical accuracy. Explaining the creative decision not to portray real characters and their survival stories, Weil said, “I simply did not want to depict those specific, real acts of trauma.”
Viewers eager to revisit this terrific thriller series only have a few more weeks until it leaves streaming. Starting December 2, the 18-episode show will officially depart from Netflix as part of next month’s update.
- Release Date
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2020 – 2023-00-00
- Network
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Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
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David Weil
- Directors
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David Weil
- Writers
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David Weil
