Review of Serpico (1973) by Rob H — 03 Apr 2008

This is my third favorite film, though not in that order. I love them all equally, because they all share the same theme: opposing the majority, refusing to conform and doing the right thing. On The Waterfront, Rebel Without A Cause and now Pacino's Serpico, they are characters created by actors who never bought into fame and popularity, but believed in the importance of character.

Each seem to be from a different generation, though On The Waterfront and Rebel Without A Cause are only a year apart. However, all are timeless. Serpico is a story about a cop in a dangerous world of corruption who refuses to conform to the wrong.

Against all odds, he will push his own limits to change the state of things. In a way, I feel I should change the order to Rebel, Waterfront, then Serpico as a history of that type of character in different stages of growth.

Jim Stark (Dean) is a confused teenager who found his character through the tragedy of corruption and his own mistakes. Brando's longshoreman in On The Waterfront was in his twenties and already living with mistakes he's made in the past.

Now, angered over the corruption he sees happening in his union, he wants to do something about it now that he can mentally handle it. Serpico is in his 30's and despite his expectations of fighting crime, is disappointed to find such corruption from his own coworkers and not the crooks he hopes to put away.

He goes undercover, however dangerous, cause that's what his aim was, to put a stop to injustice. And that is the aim of all these characters, despite their age and generation gap. These movies are timeless, because they are about things that people in every generation face.

..if they have the strength of character to do so.