Review of Carlito's Way (1993) by Nick B — 03 Jun 2010

This is not Brian DePalma's best work, but then again i'm not the biggest fan of most of his work anyway, Although I do reserve a special place in my heart for Scarface, that's about it though.

Carlito's Way's first fault is giving away the ending at the beginning, adn by the time we reach the end we figure out who does it, and the explanation of how and why is reveal then means nothing. Is this perhaps the intention of the film that the life of a gangster is meaningless and their actions aren't meant to be understood, maybe, but then again it isn't very entertaining.

Where Carlito's Way is unique is that it follows a gangster trying to quit the life but finding it harder and harder, and everyone else wanting him to stay and help them, yet whenever he agrees to help he just ends up further in.

DePalma is a born storyteller, and knows how to make a bold film, the violence seems real, there is foul language, sex and drugs, but when it comes to emotional scenes the dialogue falls flat, and Penelope Ann Miller is a btter dancer than an actress. Al Pacino tries a variation on his Tony Montana accent yet it doesn't seem consistent, and Sean Penn is very good, yet his character isn't quite understandable as he is coked out of his head most of the time. There's a lot that people can like here but for some they will want more, it's a good film but not a good gangster film, when compared to say, Goodfellas but that might be a bit harsh.