So here's something a bit different here with another ilm review of one of my fav flicks from the 1990s, Carlito's Way, starring Al Pacino and Sean Penn, which is a gripping crime thriller set in the 1970s. So as usual here's a bit more about the plot:
The film begins with Carlito Brigante (Pacino) who has just been acquitted after serving five years of a 30 year sentence, and a former big drug dealer, who returns to the streets of New York and his Peurto Rican neigbourhood. However after his time in the joint, Carlito finally has changed and no longer wants to return to his life of crime and wants to start again with a clean slate. But going straight isn't all that easy for Carlito as he gets drawn into the life again, after narrowly surviving a botched drug deal which he is brought along on by his cousin, who is then killed, leaving Carlito to shoot his way out of the bar. Carlito then uses the money from the drug deal to buy into taking share of a nightclub, which his lawyer friend David Kleinfield (Penn) also puts money into. But Carlito insists he is only buying in so he can get enough money together to get out and take over one of the friend's in the joint's car businesses, to ensure he will go straight. Along the way Carlito also re-unites with his former girlfriend Gail (Penelope Ann Miller). But Carlito also faces a few new problems, the first one being and up and coming gangster Benny Blanco "from the Bronx" (John Leguizmo) who repeatedly tries to get Carlito to become business partners with him, which ultimately leads to a fight in the club, where Carlito tells Benny if he returns to the club he will be killed. Benny then swears if he ever sees Carlito again he will kill him, which leads Carlito to knock him down a flight of stairs, but rather than kill him he choose to let him go.
And Carlito's biggest problem of all is his buddy David Kleinfield, who in his absence has become quite a corrupt fella, who is into jury tampering, bribing, and money laundering. Kleinfield also stupidly gets involved in ripping off a mob boss Tony "T" Taglialucci (Frank Minucci) by stealing a million dollars from him. Tony insists that Kleinfeld help him bust out of prison, and given very little choice in the matter, as Tony will have him killed if he doesn't. At this point Kleinfeld becomes a nervous wreck, using cocaine regularly, and he asks Carlito to help him with Tony T's prison break,who initially is reluctant but agrees to help David out. On the night of the breakout Kleinfeld is accompanied by Tony T's son, Frank (Adrian Pasdar) as well as Carlito, but on locating Tony in the rough waters, Kleinfeld beats Tony T to death with a golf club and cuts Frank's throat. With Carlito's help, Kleinfeld dumps the two mobsters bodies into the river, Carlito now incensed at Kleinfeld's actions, says they are through and walks away. Despite being confident about shaking off the mafia, Kleinfield the next day is attacked by two mobsters who stab him in the chest, however he survives. Shortly after this happens Carlito is brought in for questioning by the DA Norwalk (James Rebhorn) who plays him a tape of Kleinfeld tipping off Carlito as supposedly dealing again, Norwalk offers Carlito a chance to testify against Kleinfeld, but he denies knowledge of the events surrounding Tony T's murder, even though the DA insists he knows that he was on the boat with Kleinfeld at the time. Carlito soon after confronts Kleinfeld himself who by now is recovering in his hospital from his attack, and Carlito finally gets confirmation of his Jewish friend's duplicity, leaving him with an empty gun for when the mob guys come after him. And duly enough, Tony T's surviving son Vinnie (Joseph Siravo) dressed as a cop comes in and kills Kleinfeld with a silenced gun. At this point the mafia guys track Carlito to his nightclub and there he faces a tense game of cat and mouse as he tries to escape his enemies to start a new life away from the old one.
Carlito's way is definitely one of its director, Brian De Palma's best films and it features so many great suspenseful scenes, two of which in particular are the drug deal that goes awry near the start of the film, and the big chase scene through Grand Central station at the end. De Palma as usual also employs many of his camera techniques, the opening scene is definitely worthy of note, the way it starts with the camera turning upside down as we see Carlito being carted away on a stretcher into an ambulence.
Performance wise, the film also features an excellent cast, Pacino particularly is great as Carlito, and plays him as a man with a dark past who really has changed and become a better person, who just wants to try wipe the slate clean and start again. Carlito also gets some of the film's best dialogue, my favourite of course being the title of this entry, "Here comes the pain!!" during his tense shoot-out in the botched drug deal at the start of the film. Sean Penn is also great as the slimy and devious David Kleinfeld, and he wears that 70s permed hairdo quite convincingly! John Lequizmo is also very good as the ambitious young gangster Benny Blacno who later proves to be Carlito's nemesis. Luis Guzman as Pachanga, Carlito's bodyguard is priceless too, as he delivers his dialogue so well, and I love it when he says "Come on, Carlito, lets dump him off the pier, like old times. Be fun pappi be fun!". Perhaps though the only real weak link in the cast is Penelope Ann Miller, as Carlito's girlfriend Gail, and its not so much a slight against her as an actress as she does a fine job with her role, its her scenes aren't that interesting. But Penelope does have one really good scene with Al, where she argues with him about his boat trip with Kleinfeld and she pleads with him not to go, and lets also face it, she has a great body! ;-)
And while the film has many strengths, it has few weaknesses, although if I have to pick one or two or just the main one, then it would be Carlito's almost naive trust in those around him, particularly with Kleinfed, who despite getting him released from prison, betrays him to the DA and nearly gets him killed by the mafia. Yet throughout we can see how blatantly devious he is, and Carlito must be putting on some serious blinders to it, either or that or just maybe he's not too bright when it comes to his own friends. As the film progresses we see that Carlito's attitude towards Kleinfeld does change from overawed respect to cynicism, and by the time he gets to the boat ride, he has almost gone off him entirely, which at that point makes you wonder why he even did it. Carlito also has the same loyalty to his bodyguard Pachanga, who at the end of the film (SPOILER!!) is revealed to have betrayed him as well to Benny Blanco, in promise for getting rich off the young gangster, who instead just kills Pachanga and runs off. Just deserts there I guess. But throughout it you do see Carlito's strong moral character and of course he makes a few decisions that put him in serious danger and one that costs him his life, it does show that he doesn't want to go back to that old life. So even if Carlito's choices cost him so dear, its almost as if he would rather keep his soul rather than go down the bad road once again.
And briefly here's a wee bit about the film's fine score by Patrick Doyle, who provides a wonderfully dramatic score, which has several great passages, mainly the chase scenes through grand central station are very noteworthy.
Soooooo that's it for Carlito's Way, it definitely ranks as one of my favourite crime thriller movies and another fine achievement in Al Pacino's career.
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