Aside from the plot and characters being different, it pretty much has the same style and elements from the "Scarface" remake. It's directed by Brain De Palma; it stars Al Pacino as a Latino gangster who used to be a drug dealer; the poster looks similar to the "Scarface" poster; it takes place during the disco era; and we get nearly the same amount of violence, drug use, and swearing that the remake had. There's even a scene when Pacino is behind a door taunting his enemies, while holding a gun as he prepares to kill; much like when Pacino in "Scarface" was taunting his enemies behind a door while holding a gun, as he prepares for the famous climatic shoot-out. He even gets a quotable line before he bursts open the door to kill his enemies which is "Here comes the pain", instead of "Say hello to my little friend"; and that scene comes after a drug deal gone wrong which results with Pacino's innocent friend getting sliced up like in "Scarface". It can't get anymore "Scarface" than that! De Palma didn't even want to make another film about a Latino gangster, but decided to make the film after reading the script. Aside from the film having similar elements to "Scarface", is the film good enough to stand out on its own, or is it a cheap and boring recreation of De Palma's iconic gangster classic? ON WITH THE REVIEW!
Al Pacino plays a Puerto Rican drug dealing gangster named Carlito who has been released from prison with the help of his best friend and Lawyer Dave (Sean Penn); and Carlito vows to never return to his criminal roots ever again. He decides to help run a nightclub, until he has enough money to retire to the Bahamas with his girlfriend Gail (Penelope Ann Miller). However, his past and reputation of being a famous gangster won't stop haunting him, because his old associates and friends (Even his best friend) persuade him to help them with criminal activities that leads Carlito back to where he started, and with rival gangsters and cops on his tail, it seems unlikely that Carlito will achieve his dream of going to the Bahamas to leave his criminal career behind for good.
I must say, I really do admire the film's premise, and aside from the story being great, Al Pacino's performance is what really gets me invested into this film. Despite that we never see Pacino's character's life as a criminal before giving it up, Pacino puts so much heart, emotion, and likability to this former gangster that it doesn't matter if we see his back story or not, because we can feel every bit of emotion that this character is struggling with to live a normal life. Not once did I feel like the writing or the performance was half-assing the story of a former gangster going straight like Michael in "The Godfather Part 3" for example, it’s all done really effectively. The film of course doesn't leave us completely in the dark with Carlito's back story, because we do learn and understand his life as a gangster through the narration from our lead; the conversations and interactions between Carlito and the characters; and seeing him take action during dangerous situations that he's dragged into; and all those moments and little details of how the film connects the audience with the character and his life, makes the audience feel that they've known this character for a long time, which I find to be impressive considering that all the events shown in the film happen in the present (aside from a minor flashback). While the character of Carlito is a character that you're supposed to feel sympathy for, the film does give the character enough scenes of him being tough, badass, and even humorous on a few occasions, which Pacino really sells. The only thing Pacino doesn't sell is his Puerto Rican accent. It's seriously not as convincing as his Cuban accent in "Scarface". However much like Paul Muni in the 1932 "Scarface" and Dick Van Dyke in "Mary Poppins", Pacino puts so much heart, emotion, and energy to the character, that you don't care if the accent is good or not.
Aside from Pacino's performance as our lead, the best performance in the film goes to Sean Penn as Carlito's lawyer Dave. While I recognized Pacino right away when I saw him as our lead; Penn on the other hand, I couldn't recognize at all with his glasses, the curly hair, and the way he plays this crazy wimpy lawyer. Almost every single time I see him on screen, he steals the scene. It's really one of those performances where I can separate the actor from the character. What I also enjoy about the character that Penn's playing is the character's story arc. While Carlito is trying hard to reform but somehow can't escape from his criminal past; Dave's story arc is about him getting involved in the criminal underworld due to greed, drug addiction, and revenge which he won't think will backfire at all, and the way that Dave's premise is handled is executed so well that its just as smart and engaging as Carlito's story, as well as fitting in with the films main premise perfectly. It's like the plot twist of Fredo betraying Michael in "The Godfather Part 2"; you never see it coming because of how comical and wimpy the character is.
This character and performance is so awesome that not only is it the best performance in the movie, but the classic video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" cleverly homage this character by giving the game's protagonist Tommy a lawyer who's just as wimpy and comical as Penn is in "Carlito's Way"; the only major difference is he doesn't screw our lead as you would suspect.
As for Carlito's love interest Gail, I at first thought the subplot and Miller's performance was going to be the slow and weak point of the movie, but it surprisingly wasn't. Ok, I will admit, the film does feel very slow at points compared to the pacing in "Scarface" and I guess a few of those scenes between Pacino and Miller are very slow at times, but in all honesty, the relationship itself isn't boring at all. Pacino and Miller do have great chemistry together; the girlfriend's story of wanting to be a dancer, but has to work as a stripper is an interesting concept to this character; and Miller really does sell out her concerns towards her boyfriend's decisions of helping his friend out with a crime, instead of her performance feeling bland, corny, and over the top. I think the only moment that Miller ever gets that's close to being over the top and corny is when she sees her boyfriend being shot in the end (Trust me, that's not a spoiler! I'll explain why later); but with that said, it wasn't as painfully corny and over the top as you would think, you do feel sad for her and Carlito. For something that I thought was going to be boring and bland when going into this film, the relationship between these two characters sucked me in from the minute when Carlito first encounters her in the film; and the fact that the actors did have something special going for them in real life, makes the film's relationship even more interesting and romantic.
The rest of the film's supporting characters are just as good as our three leading characters. You have Luis Guzman as Carlito's assistant Pachanga (Which the actor by the way voiced the hot headed powerful Spanish gangster Diaz in "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City") who is just as fun and cool as Carlito is. Then we have Jorge Porcel as the club owner that Carlito works with, who's a pretty fun character as well. There's Viggo Mortensenas as the crippled gangster Lalin who despite having one scene in the movie, does seem like an interesting character, especially with the way how Carlito and Lalin interact with each other. You honestly do feel that long term connection between these two characters. The same can be said with Al Israel (Aka, the guy who played the chainsaw wielding drug dealer from "Scarface") as a gangster that Carlito used to work for. He has one scene that is actually shorter than Mortensenas' only scene, but you do feel and sense the connection between the two characters, as well as getting an idea and feel of Carlito's past. We also have the Italian gangsters runned by a big hot headed gangster who's serving time in prison, while his two sons take control, and even these characters despite knowing little about them are interesting, fun, and threatening characters that you feel just as connected to, as our leads. Finally there's the hot shot fun loving gangster Benny played by John Leguizamo, who has to be my favorite supporting character outside of our three leads. He's so fun, colorful, and over the top, while also maintaining a don't cross-me side, that he becomes the center of attention when we see him acting like the big shot that he is; and this is the same year when Leguizamo was in that terrible movie "Super Mario Bros". Despite having little screen-time with most of the supporting characters, the connection as well as the characters themselves are still interesting and good enough for you to feel and understand Carlito's past with these characters, as well as enjoying the performances.
The action in the film, while not as different and groundbreaking as the action in "Scarface”, are still really awesome scenes! Just the amount of suspense, thrills, action, and blood is all what makes these scenes so cool as well as keeping you in on the edge of your seat. The highlights in the film that have all the things that I just mentioned is the Bar scene (Though I do wonder what happened to the rest of the thugs) and the climax! As for the soundtrack, while the score is decent, what really gives the film its cool and 70s atmosphere is the songs that you hear at the clubs or on the street. Just hearing the disco music, and Spanish music along with the sets, really does capture that 70s disco feel. I especially love how the film closes out with the song "You Are So Beautiful" performed by Joe Cocker as we see a Bahama's poster come to life as the credits role, which makes it a really beautiful and emotional conclusion to the film. While the film does have a strong rehash"Scarface" feel to it, the film itself does feel like a rehash of many other classic gangster films as well. I've already mentioned a few of the similarities from "The Godfather" films, like Pacino playing a gangster trying to reform but can't because of the mob pulling him back in, and the wimpy character that's close to Pacino but screws him over later on for example. What I didn't mention however is one of the main characters gets wounded and is put in the Hospital where he's vulnerable to be killed, and not only does it remind me of the first "Godfather" film, but the Hospital that the character is in is in the same exact Hospital that was shown in the first "Godfather" film. The film also at times does have a strong Scorsese gangster feel at points, such as the narration from our lead, some of the shots, and even some of the sets (I mean doesn't the Bar that Carlito goes to remind you of the bar from "Mean Streets"?). Even the climax at Grand Central Station is almost as similar to the shootout in the Train Station scene in "The Untouchables" (Also directed by De Palma). Originally it was going to film inside the World Trade Center, but De Palma decided not to because of the post 9/11 bombing threat. While the film does share similarities to previous gangster movies, the film, as well as the things that I just mentioned does have enough originality to make it become plausible, and in all honesty, I do like most of the references to previous gangster films. Don't get me wrong, some of it does get distracting at points, but that mostly has to do with how much the film's style rehashes "Scarface".
For me the biggest problem that I have with the film is the fact that the first scene in the movie spoils the ending! In the very beginning of the film, we see Carlito get shot and being taken away on a stretcher as he looks back on the past before he dies, which makes the result of the film's big climax predictable. I know the film is supposed to lead the audience up to the point where he gets shot by making the audience understand how and why he gets shot, but I got so invested with Pacino's character trying to reform, that I actually felt like the film's heart and center was more on Carlito trying to reform, than giving us the answers to why Carlito got shot. I really felt like the film spoiled the audience with the opening scene, and that the last scene would have been more effecting if we didn't see the result in the very beginning. Whenever Carlito gets into dangerous situations, we know that he's going to be alright because we know that he's not going to die. Even during the climatic shootout, we know when and where Pacino is going to die, so why should we be worried about his life and hope that he's going to go to the Bahamas if we know that he's going to die and not make it? I know films that I praised like "Once Upon A Time In America" and "Life Of PI" already shows the aftermath before we learn about the character's journey, but that worked because we we're not only curious about how the character survived, but we were more curious about how the event changed the character and made the character do what he did, which were the main focus in both films. In this film, I didn't feel that at all, because I felt like the film was more focused on Carlito's journey of reforming, instead of making the audience be more interested in why or how he got shot at the end, which really ruins the whole journey.
While "Carlito's Way" feels like a rehash of many gangster films (Especially "Scarface") and feeling like the film did the opposite of what it was supposed to do with Carlito's story, as well as moving very slow at times, it’s still a really good film. Despite Pacino's phony accent which is disappointing considering how good his Spanish Cuban accent was in "Scarface", it’s still a really good and effective performance; Sean Penn as the Lawyer is so fantastic that it's clearly one of his best performances of all time, as well as being the best performance in the movie; the connection between Carlito and the characters, despite never seeing a flashback of him with them, and seeing them appear for a short time is still very effecting and gives you the feel and understanding of Carlito’s past and relationship with these characters, especially his relationship with his girlfriend; the action is cool and intense; the soundtrack is awesome; the story of a former gangster trying hard to reform is a story where you feel connected to the character and want him to succeed, even though that concept gets ruined by the opening scene; and the majority of references to gangster films are smart and clever, as well as flowing perfectly with the story turning the things that the film is referencing into something new. The film could have been better, but for what it is, it’s a gangster film that I recommend gangster film fans should see.
RATING 4/5
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