Vanity, thy name is Kevin Spacey. The brilliant “House of Cards” star is not only the executive producer but the video-on-demand distributor (via kevinspacey.com) of Jeremy Whelehan’s hagiographic documentary filmed during Spacey’s triumphant 2011-2012 global tour of “Richard III.”
Mostly, the cast and other collaborators (including Sam Mendes, who directed him to a Best Actor Oscar in “American Beauty”) talk about what a great and generous actor Spacey is. To them, he’s just a regular guy, even when he pays to take them yachting in Italy or riding around the Arabian Desert in SUVs between performances.
Occasionally, the famously private actor seems to be playing celebrity named “Kevin Spacey,” letting his hair down about taking a year off from paycheck jobs and the challenges of playing Shakespeare’s hunchbacked murderer. If the latter interests you, better to rent Al Pacino’s far more enlightening documentary “Looking for Richard.”