Kirpianuscus
The first temptation is to say - I know this story, I know what Al Pacino does. bbut you make a mistake. Carlito is a story about gangsters and it has the all ingredients of genre. but Al Pacino and Sean Penn are masters to transform the known story in something real original. and this is basic virtue of film - it is not The Godfather or Scarface. it is a story about survive, fights, succes and fall who could not be reduced at simplicity of sketches, cliches or stereotypes. it is an alive story. that defines it. and does it great.
batterypark123
Where Scarface was about a South American battling his way to the top of the crime world, Carlito's Way is about a South American gangster trying to leave his past behind him. The story is very good and believable, the problems for Carlito (Al Pacino) are very typical for someone in his position and the relationships are all very convincing. The fact that Edwin Torres based his characters on real people and that events in the film are inspired by real life, really help Carlito's Way to be a credible film. The fact that it is Carlito's lawyer, Kleinfeld (Sean Penn), who got him out of prison and then becomes a loose cannon who provides Carlito with too many problems is a great illustration of respect and excess going to someone's head.The performances in this film are extremely strong. Al Pacino is one of the best actors ever to be witnessed and is on outstanding form here. The beard, shades and long coat are a very good look for him and definitely provide him with one of his most fashionable roles to date. What is most convincing in this performance is his charm towards Gail (Penelope Ann Miller) as the audience, along with Gail, fall for him instantly, despite knowing his past. His scenes with Sean Penn are also amongst the films strong points because it always good to see Pacino act angry. The dialogue between these two is exceptional and really highlights how strongly Carlito's Way is written. Sean Penn does not let Pacino outclass him and gives one of his strongest performances. As an arrogant coke head, Penn portrays a character who is really repulsive and dislikeable and incites a great sense of hatred from the audience. Penelope Ann Miller does well to give the film feeling and bring it down to earth. It is pleasurable to watch her inner conflicts regarding Carlito as she pulls off the emotional scenes very professionally and is very effective at drawing out an emotional response from the audience. Luis Guzman and John Leguizamo are the two most memorable characters from the supporting cast, they both fit specific niches very well and both give great performances. It was nice to see Adrian Pasdar in the film, shame he wasn't in it for longer as the writers could have made something more out of his character.My only negative criticism of the film is that it could have done with a touch more action. Gangster films are at their most exciting when there is a high drama shootout but Carlio's Way only has two major action scenes. Luckily, the content is good enough to make up for this. The two shootouts are very good scenes, especially the last one as the tension build up is so intense.Stylish, realistic and stimulating, Carlito's Way would be a classic gangster film, had it not been overshadowed and over compared to Scarface. All the ingredients are right to serve up a fantastic film.
IMDBcooper1971
This quote from the film's third act could easily be the tagline for Carlito's Way, one of my favourite films and even a possible contender for my top 10 of all time. It tells the story of Carlito Brigante, a former criminal on early release, and his attempts to leave his past life, despite pretty much everyone around him dragging him back.It's only natural to draw comparisons between this and Scarface, both are crime movies directed by Brian DePalma and starring Al Pacino and in some ways the automatic comparison might be what has hindered this films popularity. Scarface is the more iconic and quotable film (and rightly so) but for my money Carlito's Way is the better film overall; a more mature and contemplative piece. There's a scene in a diner about mid-way through the movie in which Carlito tells Gail"This counsellor in Lewisburg, Mr. Seawald, once said to me: "Charlie, you run out of steam. You can't sprint all the way. You gotta stop sometime. You can't buck it forever. It catches up to you. It gets you. You don't get reformed, you just run out of wind.""This felt almost like a direct acknowledgement of Scarface and how this film would differ from it; Tony Montana in Scarface is clearly a character who tried to sprint all the way and ultimately paid for it. Carlito's lived to be older than Montana, he's more world-weary and experienced. In some ways Carlito's Way benefits from the fact Scarface came before it. Montana was petulant, he lived fast and died young. Now DePalma and Pacino present us with a different story, one that takes its time and carries the weight of experience and of maturity.There's several instances where Carlito shrugs off something that would've outraged Montano. Clearly Carlito's the more relaxed of the two, more comfortable in his own skin and less likely to cause a stir when it's unnecessary. Carlito seems tired of who he was in his youth and so he tries to do something different.The main problem with this plan, and the main conflict of the film, is that his departure from who he used to be is far from a clean break. He takes what he tells himself is a temporary job, running a nightclub populated by criminals, many of whom knew him when he was younger or are familiar with his legend. In other words: bad influences. Carlito makes the potentially fatal mistake of trying to be both a semi-gangster and a reformed citizen simultaneously and the end result was always going to be problematic.This very interesting dimension of DePalma's film is brought to the forefront by the character of Benny Blanco, an up-and-coming criminal who Carlito takes a strong dislike to despite the fact a friend tells him "It doesn't make sense you should hate this guy because this guy is you twenty years ago." He's essentially the physical manifestation of Carlito's younger self. When Carlito compromises on his no-crime promise and runs the nightclub, Benny is often lurking in the background. He represents Carlito's old life and Carlito now represents the new life he wants, it's only natural conflict should arise between the two. This external conflict between them matches the internal conflict between the two forces inside Carlito. Because he doesn't completely eradicate his younger avatar and instead keeps him around, the past (Benny) ultimately throws the future (Carlito) into severe jeopardy. When Carlito throws Benny out of the club, the two stand illuminated by red light. Blanco's whole face is covered in it; he's fully a gangster, totally at ease with what he is with no internal struggle to rectify. Carlito only has red light on one half of his face, divided exactly in the middle. He's not quite a gangster anymore but he can't quite fully leave it behind. It's this internal struggle that causes so many problems for him.There's also themes about growing older and hopes being dashed. There's a great scene where Carlito goes to see his former girlfriend who he still has feelings for. She tells him she's a dancer, yet, when he goes to see her perform, it turns out she's a stripper. Pacino plays it brilliantly, keyword: nuance. Up until that moment he had thought Gail had achieved her lifelong dream and yet instead he sees it's simply a pale imitation (a storyline that parallels his own). He has his shirt buttoned up to the top but when he enters the club and sees what kind of place it is he unbuttons his top button, adjusting his expectations (as well as demonstrating how easily he can oscillate between the two worlds when really he should stick to one). It's a film about the perceived necessity of compromise but also the dark ramifications of it.The dialogue, and Pacino's delivery, can feel a little cheesy occasionally but, if you let yourself enjoy the film and be invested in the characters, that won't be a problem.Slow in parts, but never boring, when the action scenes arrive they're some of the best you'll see in film (Particularly the chase sequence). DePalma uses long shots for the chase scenes rather than the more traditional quick, excessive jump cuts and the end result proves to be very effective, giving a real sense of peril. IMDb only allows 1,000 words so I can only briefly praise Sean Penn's fantastically seedy character and the excellent soundtrack.Overall, it's an interesting story, exploring a dimension of criminal life that's rarely been explored (and rarer still been explored this effectively). The tragedy of this film is that Carlito just can't shake off his former life, his compromises end with him getting in his own way, which makes for a more human story, even a more relatable one. One of Pacino's best films and the best DePalma film I've seen so far. Great for fans of cinema, directing and characterization.9/10
