Review of Serpico (1973) by Michael Y — 11 Jan 2011

Al Pacino, one of the greats, stars in one of his best roles as real life policeman, Frank Serpico. If you love Al Pacino, then this one in his early years will no doubt satisfy.

Frank Serpico joined the New York Police Department to be the best damn cop he can be. But his expectations of the department are crushed as soon realized the corruption inside the whole department, including drug trafficing and bribes from the mafia. Though constantly harrassed and risking his life, Frank Serpico is on a one-man crusade to do the right thing. This story of real life corruption and a 'one man fighting against the world' is very interesting, with an incredable preformance by Al Pacino and the paranoia he faces when he can't trust anybody.

This old, gritty story of life on the streets is exceptionally well made. I was most impressed with the choice of camera angles and it's bold cinematography. This crime drama relies mostly on Pacino, there aren't any flashy gimmics, and there's barely any soundtrack. When you hear music, it's going to be heavy, classical music that really paints the sad picture of Serpico's struggle. So in replacement of the lack of music, the sound mixing and editing of Serpico's enviroment is abundant on it's detail. The movie films situations that re rarely see in cop movies, and the enviroment is very real and dark. Plus Pacino totally looks the part in every scene.

A bit of a slow going drama, but an interesting one at that. It'll grab your attention souly on the story and Pacino's preformance. This is the one-man-stands of all one-man-stands because this story was real. So go ahead and watch this Al Pacino classic.