The accidental similarity,
plain as day on
paper, becomes even
plainer on the screen: Minutes into the film, stage and cinema veteran Simon Axler (Al Pacino, himself a veteran of both Broadway and Hollywood) ambles out of his dressing room, the camera following close
behind; gets locked out of the back entrance of the theater, and must come in through the front; and dramatically inflicts some violence upon himself before a shocked live audience.