Throughout his
career Al Pacino has played many criminals, but as he aged so did the
gangsters. In 1983 he played the demented Tony Montana in Brian de Palma’s Scarface, setting the bar for ambitious
drug lords the world over. Ten years later Pacino and De Palma reunited for Carlito’s Way, which asked the question:
what if Montana got caught, sent to prison, released back into society, and
then tried to be a good boy? Well as Pacino said in The Godfather Part III:
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
The movie came
out in 1993 when I was seven years old so of course this is not a movie I saw
on the big screen. Too bad, because it is filled with De Palma’s visual flair,
specifically in a climactic shootout at a train station. Fortunately I eventually
caught up with it about 15 years later when it was playing on the Movie
Network, which is always a great help if you want to catch up on classics
during a long weekend. Chronologically it worked out great since I had already
seen The Godfather trilogy and Scarface. Carlito’s Way is the natural progression for these characters.
The movie opens
in 1975 as criminal Carlito Brigante (Pacino) is bragging to a New York City
court how he has been rehabilitated and is now a changed man. The judge assumes
Carlito is simply spitting in the court’s face because one way or another he is
walking out of a 30-year prison sentence after his lawyer David Kleinfeld (Sean
Penn) has exploited a legal technicality. Yet to the surprise of his criminal
friends, Carlito really does try to leave his life of crime behind him. He does
end up taking part in a drug deal that goes bad as a favour to his cousin,
however he uses the money from the deal to buy a nightclub and become a legitimate
businessman.
Next on his list
is rekindling the romance with his girlfriend Gail (Penelope Ann Miller), a
ballet dancer. Much to his surprise, Gail also makes money on the side by
dancing at a strip club. How is he supposed to react when two excited patrons
come to her table and congratulate her on her dancing when he is sitting right
next to her? The old Carlito would probably have beaten them senseless in an
alley in a fit of jealousy, yet here again he shows he has changed by
demonstrating restraint. No matter their past or present life career choices,
Carlito’s dream is to make money the hard way and run away with Gail down
south.
Unfortunately
Carlito may have changed but the world hasn’t. The district attorney (James
Rebhorn) is looking for any excuse to throw him back in prison while at the
club young gangster and big fan Benny Blanco (John Leguizamo) keeps harassing
him for a business deal. The threat he never expected comes from his lawyer
Kleinfeld who has been busy while Carlito was in prison. Not content with just
being paid to be a mob lawyer, Kleinfeld thought it would a good idea to steal
money from one of his mob-boss client. When the mob finds out, instead of being
killed he must break the client out of prison and for this he begs for Carlito
for help. Even though he is disgusted by Kleinfeld’s life choices Carlito
accepts out of a sense of loyalty to his old friend. You know what they say
about good deeds going unpunished.
If anybody can
stand toe-to-toe with Al Pacino playing a gangster, it has to be Sean Penn playing
his lawyer. In fact, Penn just about steals the show as the high-strung
Kleinfeld. With his glasses, receding hairline and curly hairdo, he is nearly
unrecognizable. While Carlito is trying to make his way out of the criminal
underworld, Kleinfeld just keeps sinking in deeper and deeper while getting
high on the products his clients sell. When criminals can’t rely on their
lawyers to keep it together it is time to leave town.
Although not as
successful as Scarface, this second
collaboration between Pacino and De Palma is just as engrossing. The character
of Carlito is much more sympathetic than Tony Montana even though he most
likely deserved to be in prison for another 25 years. But as you watch him
rekindle his love with Gail and try to walk the line you end up rooting for him
and hoping he actually makes it to the tropics. He may not have inspired
rappers and gangsters, but Carlito is another shining addition on Pacino’s long
list of memorable characters.
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