Carlito’s Way (1993) Universal/Drama-Action RT: 144 minutes Rated R (pervasive language, strong violence, nudity, sexual content, drugs) Director: Brian De Palma Screenplay: David Koepp Music: Patrick Doyle Cinematography: Stephen H. Burum Release date: November 3, 1993 (US) Cast: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo, Ingrid Rogers, Luis Guzman, James Rebhorn, Joseph Siravo, Viggo Mortensen, Richard Foronjy, Jorge Porcel, Frank Minucci, Adrian Pasdar, John Augustin Ortiz, Angel Salazar, Rick Aviles. Box Office: $36.9M (US)/$63.8M (World)
Rating: *** ½
I suppose the comparisons to the previous Pacino-De Palma collaboration Scarface (1983) are inevitable, but it isn’t completely accurate. Carlito’s Way is a gangster movie of a different color. I knew it was going to be great. It’s one of the few times I’ve seen audiences applaud a trailer. It happened at the pre-release screening of the Jean-Claude Van Damme actioner Hard Target that August. It was a very riveting two-and-a-half minutes. I could only imagine that the actual movie would be as cool.
Carlito’s Way didn’t go over as well as Scarface did the previous decade and I understand why. It’s a much darker movie. Whereas Scarface was an all-out gangster flick, De Palma’s newer movie was more of a film noir piece. Tony Montana was a coked-up megalomaniac while Carlito Brigante was a gangster trying to go straight. He’s a more complex character than Montana. I think audiences were looking for a de facto Scarface sequel. I knew going in it wouldn’t be the case. Either way, I love this movie! I think it’s brilliant. I’d even say that it’s one of De Palma’s best films. Of course, this is familiar territory for him. In addition to Scarface, he also directed The Untouchables (1987), indisputably one of the best gangster movies EVER! I love that Carlito’s Way is set in the 70s and moves to a disco beat. It’s a perfect representation of the era.
The year is 1975 and Puerto Rican gangster Carlito Brigante (Pacino) is being released from prison due to a legal technicality after serving only a fraction of his 30-year sentence. He has his shady lawyer and best friend David Kleinfeld (Penn, Milk) to thank. There’s no legal loophole this man won’t exploit. It doesn’t go over well at all with prosecutor Bill Norwalk (Rebhorn, Independence Day) who’s determined to put the criminal back where he belongs. Carlito is determined to go straight and leave behind his old lifestyle. His dream is to raise enough money to buy into a car rental business in the Bahamas with an old prison mate.
Unfortunately (and as much as I hate to resort to clichés), just when he thinks he’s out, he gets pulled back in. He accompanies his young cousin to a drug deal that goes horribly wrong. He has to shoot his way out of a pool hall. He manages to get away with the money which he uses to buy into a nightclub. He agrees to stay on as manager until he raises the $75,000 he needs to start his new life as an honest businessman.
Naturally, Carlito finds trouble at every turn. He has a few unfortunate encounters with “Benny Blanco from the Bronx” (Leguizamo, Die Hard 2), a young hot-headed gangster who aspires to be a big shot like Brigante. Kleinfeld pulls him into a situation involving the Mafia. It makes him a marked man. The only bright spot in his life is reconnecting with his old girlfriend Gail (Miller, Kindergarten Cop), a dancer who moonlights as a stripper.
The disco-filled soundtrack is awesome! I’m not ashamed to admit that I LOVE 70s disco. I drove my friends crazy repeatedly playing the Carlito’s Way soundtrack in my car the following summer. De Palma gets everything right in recreating the era- the clothes, the decors, the cars and even the old Salem cigarettes packages.
Pacino does an excellent job in the lead role even if he does shout half his dialogue. Well, that’s Pacino for you. He does a fairly convincing Puerto Rican accent too. It really doesn’t sound too much like the Cuban accent he affected for Scarface. It’s not as exaggerated. Penn should have received an Oscar nomination for his performance as the sleazy criminal lawyer. He has the look of a lying, two-faced bastard. He has this one scene in the nightclub where he gets into it with an Italian mobster who dances with Gail.
If there’s one thing De Palma knows it’s how to stage a genuinely exciting chase sequence. It occurs in the film’s third act when Carlito tries to dodge a group of Italian mobsters trying to kill him in Grand Central Station. The escalator shoot-out is an expert piece of filmmaking. De Palma also gets to show off his brilliant way with camera movement in Carlito’s Way. Just look at how he follows Carlito around his nightclub. I’ll always think Scarface is an awesome flick, but Carlito’s Way has its merits too. Like I said, it’s a different kind of gangster movie. It’s very slick and stylish yet doesn’t favor either one over substance. Carlito Brigante is a complex and compelling character. Carlito’s Way is one of the best unsung films of the 90s.
