Review of Scarface (1983) by Cameron J — 14 Jul 2012

I love how the original featured a white guy trying to pass for an Italian, and now that they actually have an Italian in the lead role, they changed the main character into a Cuban. Granted, Paul Muni was so blasted bad at an Italian accent that he sounded Cuban, so the irony in the nationality change doesn't sting too much, but it's still there. Well, the nationality change and the fact this film is actually good are far from the only lapses in faithfulness that this film makes as a remake of that mediocre 1932 bore, which I think makes this film a beautiful testament to how much Oliver Stone takes liberties with his screenplays, because even the film remakes he writes for are as loose as his nostrils were around the time he wrote this film's screenplay. This film is certainly a beautiful testament to how blasted vulgar Stone is, because if you're dubious that Oliver Stone can write an intelligent screenplay that's not riddled to the rim with obscenities, then buddy, don't watch this film, if you can prevent it of course, because if I, the guy who's somehow gone this long without seeing, well, this film, finally got around to seeing this film, then you don't stand a chance of avoiding it. Hey buddy, I say submit and join the party, because this is a pretty good little film (Almost three hours; yeah, real little), even if it does go well over the top... on paper. No, in execution, there's no way Brian De Palma could have gone very far without submitting to the over-the-top, though not quite for lack of trying. As good as the film is, it too has a bit of its own power struggle between competence and cheesiness, and while a combination like that actually helps in making this film so enjoyable, it's still a risky dance that certainly didn't leave this film to walk away without its own scars.

Okay, really, with all of my joking, the film isn't all that relentless in its being over-the-top, yet that's just where the problem sets it, as the film will have such extended periods of relative genuineness, only to incorporate the more tongue-in-cheek aspects with such suddenness that it renders the film somewhat jarring in its tonal shifts; it certainly throws off the film's momentum. To make matters worse, certain over-the-top aspects fall rather flat, being either too alien to the more prominent tones of the film or just plain too cheesy, and it doesn't that the film is very much a product of the '80s, boasting that kind of overwhelming flare and an overbearing pop soundtrack that reminds us that although the '80s was the last decade of prevalently good music, we still had to have something to lead us into the disaster of a music industry that we have now, thus giving the film a very relatively contemporary style that I wouldn't even so much consider dated as much as I would consider generally overwhelmed by pop, to the point of cheesing things up far too often. Still, it's not like this film doesn't get a little bit corny when it attempts to straighten its face more, for although the film visits more relatively dramatic moments only a handful of times throghout its sprawling length, when it does get to that point, it's typically rather cheesy, with overbearing sentimentality and about as much subtlety as you can find in the rest of the film, and this film is definately short on subtlety. Still, what is almost, if not decidedly as problematic as the overbearing over-the-top and cheesy rare dramatic moments is, well, simply the fact that the film well outstays its welcome in a couple of spots. The film gets to be bloated, with many a scene that is either overdrawn or entirely cuttable, and those couple of moments of dragging make a considerable difference in the pacing of the film, throwing off its engagement value and slowing it down, occasionally even to a - dare I say it - dull state. The film's sprawling length may not quite be as gratutious as its excessive vulgarity, yet the film is an overlong and uneven mess of an often cheesy, sometimes overstylized and thoroughly flawed product of its time. However, although the film is a bit too long, that just means that it has more than enough time to make up for its faults, and sure enough, the takes advantage of the opportunity and shockingly transcends its missteps, or at the very least, charmingly celebrates them.

Sure, Oliver Stone's screenplay may go riddled with over-the-top aspects and the execution of Stone's screenplay may be overstylized, yet on the whole, the intentional excessiveness of the film is manipulated in a cleverly celebratory fashion, with the film emphasizing anything from the exaggerations to the relentless delightfully quotable dialogue with enough confidence for the over-the-top to set comfortably into the substance, yet still go played with enough charming self-awareness to really win you over, if not all-out entertain you more often than not. Still, while I do enjoy the occasional piece of good tongue-in-cheek fare, a film that only gets by on entertainment value rarely raises above decent, and for this film to be genuinely good, it's got to deliver on substance, and with all of the cheesiness in both the style and, yes, even the very essential substance itself, on the whole, the film delivers in that regard. Now, I'm not saying that this is "The Godfather" or anything, but the story is, in fact, well-concieved, with layers, dynamicity and even deep insight, thus making for a story that is quite unique, and as you behold the rise and fall of the Tony Montana character, it's hard to not be fascinated, if not genuinely compelled. For this, credit goes out to director Brian De Palma, who is still undeniably flawed in his direction, sometimes slipping up on the tongue-and-cheek aspects and almost always slipping up on the more relatively profound dramatic aspects, yet he still hits quite considerably more than he misses, doing, as I said earlier, a generally fine job of really absorbing livliness in the over-the-top, but also having enough inspiration in his telling of the tale of Tony Montana to summon resonance and investment in the substance, and while De Palm also taints that very substance with both botched over-the-top and a bit of manipulativeness, he is successful enough in his execution of the surprisingly worthy story to keep you predominently engrossed, and does so with the help of quite the colorful cast of memorable charismas. Of course, it should almost go without saying that the most memorable and charismatic performer in the cast is the very man who heads the cast, Al Pacino, who wins you over with the immense charm we should expect no less from him, and then strikes you down with unexpectedly profound acting depths that go well beyond charisma. Pacino's only immediately notable articles of disguise are a thick Cuban accent and an actually pretty easy to forget scar on his face (If it wasn't titular, then you would probably forget it entirely), and yet, he's all but entirely unrecognizable, as he transforms into Tony Montana, down to the deepest core, convincingly nailing the essence of our central character with effortless confidence, while securing his transformation by throwing seamless layers onto his performance. The Tony Montana character is an initially strong yet still inexperienced ambitious, but as the story progresses, he builds experience and power, and with it, corruption, desentization and overall dehumanization, until by the end, he's become an almost entirely different person, and the way Pacino effortlessly looks past all of the tongue-in-cheek aspects and dramatic messiness of the film to stay serious and organic in both his and Montana's transformations is an undeniably awe-inspiring experience that helps in giving this film so much life and effectiveness, making him one of the biggest reasons why this film transcends all of its underwhelmingness, messiness, excessiveness and cheesiness to ultimately emerge as a rewarding effort.

Bottom line, the tongue-in-cheek aspects not only drive some unevenness within the tone of the film, but also get to be rather fall-flat and overbearing, especially when they go amplified by the film's moments of pop overstylizing, which isn't to say that the more dramatic aspects - such as they are - go untainted, as moments of manipulativeness further slow down the impact of the film, while what slows the entirety film down is simply its being overlong, with overdrawn and cuttable scenes that dull down the film and could have stood as the death blow that brings this film down to underwhelmingness, yet the film, on the whole, transcends the sting of its many missteps by having many moments of effectively confident celebration of Oliver Stone's tongue-in-cheek aspects that breathe into the film immense charm, while Brian De Palma's generally inspired direction absorbs intrigue from the undeniably fascinating, if not rather compelling story, which goes especially brought to life by the colorful cast, headed by a glowingly charismatic, hypnotically layered and altogether engrossingly transformative Al Pacino, who stands as one of the key players in the making of Brian De Palma's "Scarface" as a charmingly celebratory, incontrovertibly engaging and ultimately rewarding cult classic.

3/5 - Good.