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 Director
: Brian De Palma
Starring
: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, James Rebhorn, Luis Guzman, John
Leguizamo, Penelope Ann Miller, Viggo Mortensen.
Picture
2.35:1, DD 5.1, Single Side, Single-Layer, Keep Case
Running
Time : 145 mins
The
story:
A
favour will kill you faster than a bullet..
Sprung
from prison on a legal technicality by his cocaine-addled
attorney, former drug kingpin Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino)
stuns the local underworld when he vows to go straight.
Taking a job managing a glitzy, lowlife nightclub, he tracks
down his onetime girlfriend and rekindles their romance,
promising he's changed for good. But Carlito's dream of
going legitimate is undermined at every turn by murderous
former cronies and even deadlier young thugs out to make
a name for themselves. Ultimately, however, his most dangerous
enemy is himself. Despite good intentions, Carlito's misguided
loyalties and an outmoded code of "honour" will
plunge him into a savage life-or-death battle against the
relentless forces that refuse to let him go.
The
summary:
Brian
De Palma's first worked with Al Pacino on the legendary
"Scarface", so expectations for their second collaboration
are immense. "Carlito's Way" brings us the story
of former drug baron trying to walk the path of the straight
and narrow, but there's no shortage of action or suspense
here. Whilst Carlito's Way doesn't make it to the heights
of the likes of Scarface or The Godfather, it's a superb
piece of drama in it's own right. The tension is just right
and although it runs for almost two and a half hours, you
wont be spending your time glancing at the clock. The story
has a few twists but mostly follows the path that leads
to the inevitable climax of the story. Carlito finds history
repeating itself as he finds himself getting deeper and
deeper into the shady world that he tried so hard to avoid.
But you know his actions are going to be his downfall and
I have to confess, I was a bit disappointed with the ending
as I'd seen it coming a mile off.
Al
Pacino is of course the focus of the film and a fantastically
talented actor he is too. But Sean Penn deserves praise
for a marvellous performance as Carlito's flashy lowlife
lawyer, Kleinfeld. He's quite unrecognisable and simply
has to be seen to be believed. The excellent cast and wonderfully
charismatic characters are the making of the film, which
really, apart from an all too predictable ending, has very
few flaws.
Universal
seem to have made this release on the cheap, to the expense
of UK buyers. Not only do we get a disc that's absent of
any real extras, but we get a poor non-anamorphic transfer
that actually turns out to be the version from the US region
one release. So with no real effort on Universal's part,
we've got very mixed feelings about this disc. It is a terrific
film though and can be found rather cheaply in the shops.
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