"Free at last, free at last!" (Carlito's Way (DVD))

Member Name: kevin121

Product:	Carlito's Way (DVD)
Date:	11/01/09 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pacino and Penn, what more do you want?

Disadvantages: Genre maybe isn't to everyone's taste

We're first introduced to Carlito Brigante when the film opens with him taking a slug in the chest at Grand Central Station. As consciousness slips away, he reflects on his life and the events leading up to his shooting.

Brigante is a Puerto Rican former drug lord who had his 30 year sentence for drug dealing quashed by the court of appeal thanks to prosecutors using illegal wiretaps and a smart lawyer (Dave Kleinfeld) after serving 5 years. He's determined to go straight once he's free but his old cronies and the streets he grew up in are calling him back. He finds the world's changed since his incarceration, all his old buddies are either dead or locked up themselves and the new kids don't have that sense of loyalty he knew. The day after he's released, he gets caught up in a drug deal that goes wrong, with horrible consequences for his young cousin. Who can he rely on now he's out?

Davey Kleinfeld? Fuhhgeddaboudit! Davey turns out to be a bent, avaricious swindler, who through a drug addled stupour thought he could cheat a mob client and get away with it. He asks Carlito for help, and despite his misgivings, Carlito agrees to a fantastic scheme which will surely only lead them both into further trouble. As Carlito says: "A favour's gonna kill you faster than a bullet". All Carlito wants to do is to earn enough money in New York to move to the Bahamas with his old flame and live out his days as a taxi driver there, but the people around him can't believe he's changed including the district attorney prosecutors, who are watching him.

So is this just another film about a reformed criminal who's seen the error of his ways? I didn't think so. I found Pacino totally convincing as Carlito, who grew up in a New York where the neighbourhoods are controlled by gangs from different ethnic origins, and you learnt the hard way not to stray off your patch. He's been involved in petty crime since he started stealing cars at 14, and worked his way up to owning nightclubs and racketeering. Pacino looked totally at ease with his character and the mean streets of Brooklyn where this is set.

As for Sean Penn, he is excellent as Kleinfeld. He's portrayed as a once hardworking lawyer who's been around too many mobsters for too long, he's starting to get sucked into their mindset, so why should he work hard when there's easier money to be had?

This is a great film set in 1970's New York, with excellent performances from Pacino and Penn (once you can get over Penn's permed hair). The pace of the film is just right, with some scenes, notably in the pool hall moving quite slowly as the tension builds, and others extremely fast moving, such as the chase scene set in Grand Central Station and the set piece in the club Carlito now runs.

The musical score worked well with the film, and if you like seventies disco classics then you won't be disappointed. I personally can't listen to any version of Lady Marmalade now without thinking of Carlito and one of the scenes in the club.

Directed by Brian de Palma, this is his second outing with Pacino, ten years after they worked together on Scarface. Personally I was never keen on Scarface, finding it too violent. Carlito's Way might have a very similar premise with Pacino playing another Latino/Hispanic but this is less bloodthirsty, and in my opinion a much better film for it.

So does Carlito manage to get to the Bahamas with his partner? Well watch it and see!

Watch out for a little cameo by Viggo Mortenson, who is unrecognisable as Lalin, an old acquaintance of Carlito's and who's now a paraplegic.

Summary: A great partnership between two of the best American screen actors now.