Review of Serpico (1973) by Avi S — 31 Jul 2013

Al Pacino is one of my favourite actors, yet it occurs to me I have seen him in few roles where he is not a villain, such as 88 Minutes, Sea of Love and his magnificent performance in Scent of a Woman. Mostly, he's about being a villain of various proportions from being a mafia boss in The Godfather to being a cartoonish thug in Dick Tracy. But the great thing about Serpico is that Al Pacino portrays a humane character, one who blends in with a crowd as a regular human being. And that may sound easy, but when you're as skilled a man at acting as Al Pacino with such a legacy, it's a difficult thing to achieve, yet he does it though one simple action. There is a scene where Frank Serpico is ordering a sandwich like an ordinary man, and he smiles. He doesn't smile because he knows he's manipulated someone, he smiles because he's happy merely about getting his lunch. Al Pacino transitions into playing a heroic role with gusto by acting humane, and it gets better at a particular scene later on where he moves into a new apartment and purchases a local puppy dog to help out some locals and we learn that he's a character who can make a connection easily. Al Pacino gives an excellent performance in Serpico, and makes it thoroughly compelling.

Serpico is a powerful crime drama and strong biopic since it touches on the complicated and controversial topic of police corruption without resorting to characterising him as a maniacal action hero by having him portrayed on screen through dynamics in which Frank Serpico remains stoic yet threatening merely because of his lack of interest in bending the law for personal gain. It's his disdain for corruption that builds as the character develops through the progressing story which comes from his enemies feeling threatened, which displays a theme of fear from the antagonist at the protagonist in a complicated and conflicting story which is conveyed strongly and directed finely by Sidney Lumet in a collaboration with Al Pacino before the creation of the film deemed his masterpiece, Dog Day Afternoon.

Serpico is also strongly scripted and features a well crafted musical score, so it's truly a great film despite being inconsistent in its pacing and not taking full advantage of its music to strengthen the atmosphere, as well as being uncertain in answering its questions at times due to the fact that Frank Serpico does not always have the answers. But it doesn't detract much from the fact that Serpico is a strong crime biopic about a real hero with an iconic look which Al Pacino matches well and gives a strong performance to.