Review of Scarface (1983) by Ahmedaiman9999 — 20 Jul 2018

Scarface is one of the most iconic, and one of the most quotable movies ever for a good reason. Throughout this movie I kept repeating WOW! There's no doubt that Oliver Stone is a great screenwriter, but with Brian De Palma behind the camera Oliver Stone's screenplay became very very entertaining, not just smart. I felt I was watching a movie its script is written by Aaron Sorkin, and is directed by Martin Scorsese! Al Pacino delivered a powerhouse performance as Tony Montana which, in my opinion, is the second best performance in his long career, just right behind his exceptional performance as Michael Corleone in The Godfather II. I don't want to say that Al Pacino's performance elevated the movie, because the movie is already great, but as a matter of fact, Scarface couldn't have become a classic without his iconic performance.

Speaking of the Godfather, Scarface also is a movie that takes a bad guy and allow him to be a human. The result is a nasty, and vicious protagonist that you couldn't help but root for. But it doesn't stop here, In this movie I didn't only sympathized with Tony Montana, but I also sympathized with the people Tony Montana care about the most. I cared about his relatives that I was about to shed some tears, in a gangster flick!!!!

The pacing is fast, and that was very acceptable. But at the last hour the movie dragged a little bit, but it picked up very quickly, and I found myself very engaged again.

Also, I have to mention the De Palma's spectacular representation of the Magic City, Miami. And the movie's electrifying soundtrack. Scarface is one of the best gangster films of all-time that doesn't only entertain, but it also a great character study, and has an underlying moral philosophy. And above all things, it's the most Scorsese-esque film not directed by Martin Scorsese.