Manglehorn

Al Pacino seems to be transitioning away from Hollywood roles to leading parts in independent dramas that are more thoughtful and introspective, and the strategy appears to suit the 75-year-old actor.

The latest example is Manglehorn, a bittersweet character study about redemption from director David Gordon Green (Joe) that’s rich in quirky detail, yet ultimately too slight and episodic to generate much emotional investment.

Pacino plays the title role, an aging locksmith in a small Texas town who gets paid for unlocking doors but won’t let anybody into his own life. He’s compassionate about children and animals, especially his longtime feline companion, but is overwhelmed by guilt and regret over love unrequited.

We gradually learn details about his tenuous relationships, including his flirtations with a bank teller (Holly Hunter) who is flattered by his advances but uncertain if she wants to pursue them. His estranged son (Chris Messina) is an investment banker whose attitude is indifferent, although his young daughter doesn’t share those feelings when it comes to hanging out with her grandfather.

And then there’s Clara, the woman from his past to whom he still writes almost daily, forced into reclusion by a romance that in some way ended sour.

The film is basically an acting showcase for Pacino, following on the heels of strong portrayals in The Humbling and Danny Collins. His performance here is understated yet intense, playing a solitary man with an underlying sweetness behind his emotional scars, even if he’s still more pitiful than sympathetic.

Likewise, there are some powerful moments scattered throughout the script by rookie screenwriter Paul Logan, although the film’s meandering anecdotes feel mostly like diversions, such as a romantic vignette featuring an improvised song inside a bank lobby, or an extended sequence in a veterinary operating room.

Some of those episodes are merely a chance for Green to satisfy his improvisational impulses, and the versatile filmmaker again demonstrates plenty of visual flair.

Still, Manglehorn has a deliberate pace and a somber tone (the narration doesn’t help matters), along with clumsy metaphors and a disjointed narrative structure that make the overall impact more satisfying in spurts than as a whole.

Rated PG-13, 97 minutes.