I really wanted this movie to be great. It is good, but isn’t great. Problems are all over the place. One is global — maybe something this theatrical just doesn’t work in a movie. Or maybe Mike Nichols is just old. I felt the same complacency with his film “Closer,” also based on a play. On stage, “Angels in America” (which I saw with my sister and father) had a striking urgency; on film it feels lazy. Maybe Nichols doesn’t have the anger he had when he made “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” or “Carnal Knowledge.” Last problem: Mary Louise Parker. I used to think she was great. I guess I first started paying attention to her when I began watching “The West Wing.” Thing is, she’s got one move, one trick. And she does it again and again and again. If you believe actors use their bodies like an instrument this would be like a guitar player who can only play one killer lick over and over. She’s a joke. Now — I give this a “B,” which is still quite good. Because the dialogue is. . .well. . .this is a Pulitzer winning play, probably the most respected play written in the last 15 years. . .and there’s a good reason. I found myself rewinding the DVD just to hear the quotable lines again. All of the non-Mary Louise Parker performances are terrific. Meryl Streep (and, oy, to see a giant like her slumming in a scene with Parker) proves herself again to be the most striking actress ever. Al Pacino as Roy Cohn is wonderful. (He’s having a bit of a renaissance with this and “Merchant of Venice.”) The actors I hadn’t heard of, playing Prior and Louis, were dynamite also. So — if you have 6 hours to spare — yes, see this. But it doesn’t live up to its potential.