Carlito's Way

Starring: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo, Viggo Mortensen, Luis Guzman
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Crime
1993

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A Puerto Rican (Al Pacino) gets released from prison, and tries to go straight. This is more difficult than he imagines, as his lawyer (Sean Penn) gets him involved in shady dealings once again.

Review:

Tim: As you might expect, this is a good movie, but not quite a great one. It has all the elements to be great, but it falls short. Still, this is a solid movie, and you should enjoy it.

The cast is very well put together. Pacino is outstanding as Carlos, a Puerto Rican released released from prison. He generally wants to go straight, but finds this difficult. Pacino conveyes this internal struggle beautifully. He is a morn torn by his own desires and his loyalty to his friends. Sean Penn plays Pacino's lawyer. He is nearly unrecognizable and evokes strong emotions from us. Penelope Ann Miller is decent as a stripper, although not completely believable in the role. The cast is well rounded out by John Leguizamo, Viggo Mortensen, and Luis Guzman. This is a very strong cast.

The film is appealing because we see the characters put under some intense pressure. We see the typical, good-guy-trying-to-go-straight scenario, but he's faced with great difficulty. This is meaningful because multiple lives hang in the balance here. The edge is so thin, and the line so blurred between right and wrong, life and death.

One of the biggest weaknesses is that this film can't compare to similar ones. Movies like Scarface, Goodfellas, and Heat are all just better movies.

Still, Carlito's Way is a solid movie, directed well by Brian De Palma, and acted well by Pacino and Penn. The supporting cast works well, and there is a great bit of drama. Fans of the genre should not miss it, but for the casual movie fan, there's not enough to differentiate this film from similar but better ones. I did enjoy it, however, and I believe you will as well.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Scarface, Heat, Goodfellas