Al Pacino has signed on to a film project that , on the surface, sounds awfully generic. But considering that David Gordon Green is directing “Manglehorn,” (titled “Mangel” on IMDb) there’s hope that it won’t be. It’s about a retired small town eccentric with a criminal past he’s going to have to come to grips with.

Green has had his “Pineapple Express/The Sitter/Your Highness” run. But with the two-hander “Prince Avalanche” earning buzz, “Joe” (with Nicolas Cage) have similar promise and now this, it may be that he’s back in the business of making indie films — at least until the money runs out.