While you are correct that many actors, especially actors that are not well known, do not have any control over how bad their movies turn out; an actor of the stature of Al Pacino does have the clout and power to control his own performance. I agree that he was hilarious in The Devil’s Advocate and appropriate with his choices in his performance. But loud is his default method of acting now. It’s rare when he chooses to be more quiet and subtle as he was in Donnie Brasco. I’m not painting him with the brush of overacting based off of one or two scenes in a movie, but rather, I am looking at his career arc. He’s loud now because that’s what people expect of him and that’s what he delivers. Can he still be good? Yes. But he doesn’t choose that as much as I or most people who admire his body of work want.