Review of Serpico (1973) by Tomas T — 23 Sep 2011

A tale of a honest cop trying to survive in a corruption ridden police department sounds more like your average storyline for an action movie than a biography; but the saying "Real life is often more wondrous than fiction" certainly holds true in Frank Serpico's case.

Frank Serpico's (Al Pacino) career started like so many others, filled with hopes and dreams to make a real difference, however in Frank's case those fantasies were soon eradicated after joining the force. In the 70's, the New York's finest were far from saints as corruption and looking in the other direction for little cash were more of a norm than exception. Frank was however different from the mass as his conscience could not abide with the rampant corruption which soon alienated him from his colleagues and made him as a cast off within police force. Persecuted and disliked, Serpico sought transfers only to discover the whole New York police force thoroughly rotten. With the help of his friends and contacts, Frank tried to blow the whistle on the corruption only to be buried by bureaucracy and officials more interested in protecting themselves than doing the right thing. As his desperation grew and threats against him mounted, Frank took the dangerous path of going public with his knowledge with unexpected results.

Serpico being a biography movie needs a strong lead actor and the young Al Pacino fits the bill perfectly, and as a matter of fact, Serpico is one of Pacino's best performances. His impulsive and rough take on Serpico's character is very convincing and he makes the character easy to relate to. Add in Sidney Lumet's skillful and dramatic directing and you have very impressive package in hand. Lumet being known as one of the masters of cinema and said to been able to get the the most out of his actors, which feels correct with Pacino in Serpico. I found the lengthy handy camera-like action shots especially powerful in the movie. Serpico belongs to the category of great police drama movies thanks to Pacino's strong role and Lumet's great directing. In grand scheme of things the somewhat dragging end part of the movie is easy to forgive and does not change the fact that Serpico is a terriffic cop/crime drama biography.