New HBO film starring Al Pacino, above, chronicles the fall of football coach Joe Paterno.
“Paterno” aims to tell the polarizing story of a legend’s fall, when the most essential question can never be answered.
The HBO movie directed by Barry Levinson, debuted Saturday and stars Oscar winner Al Pacino as Joe Paterno, the Penn State coach whose career ended in scandal.
The movie chronicles a twoweek stretch during the fall of 2011, starting with Penn State beating Illinois for the record 409th victory of Paterno’s career through the arrest of former longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky to the first game played by Penn State after Paterno was fired.
The charges against Sandusky, who is serving a 30to 60-year prison sentence for sexual abuse of 10 boys, led to questions about what Paterno knew about Sandusky.
“You’re dealing with certain issues that are never going to be totally explained,” Levinson told the AP recently.
Paterno was diagnosed with lung cancer shortly after he was fired on Nov. 9, 2011. He died January 22, 2012, at age 85.
Levinson said he was drawn to the story because of its Shakespearean qualities. Paterno coached Penn State for 46 seasons and built a virtually impeccable reputation as not just a Hall of Fame coach but also as an educator and humanitarian, Levinson said.
“What is this man and what are these contradictions?” Levinson said.
Levinson said research for the film came from Joe Posnanski’s book “Paterno,” Paterno’s son and former assistant coach Jay Paterno’s book “Paterno Legacy,” plus news reports. Sara Ganim, the former reporter for The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the Sandusky scandal, was a consultant on the film.
Posnanski was working on a biography of Paterno, coincidentally, at the time of the Sandusky scandal and often had access to private discussions of the Paterno family.
Two Penn State administrators, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz — also portrayed in the film — pleaded guilty to misdemeanour child endangerment charges in 2017.
This led prosecutors to drop three felony