I nose a smell of sugar daddy & boy toy. Every time Pacino rephrases or demands "Don't...", am I the only one who senses bit erotic? The director absolutely knows nothing about editing, and the screenplay merely stays on surface.
His world? No, I don't think so. "To be frank, I think his world had vanished long before he ever entered it. But I'll say, he certainly Sustained the illusion with a marvelous grace." Telling a story is not the point here. Everything's format.