CARLITO'S WAY
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Rating (Linear 0 to 10): 5.5
Date Released: 11/12/93 Running Length: 2:20 Rated: R (Violence, language, nudity)
Starring: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizumo Director: Brian DePalma Producers: Martin Bregman, Will Baer, and Michael S. Bregman Screenplay: David Koepp based on the novels CARLITO'S WAY and AFTER HOURS by Justice Edwin Torres Music: Patrick Doyle Released by Universal Pictures
The first scene of CARLITO'S WAY is in black-and-white, and features a close-up of a bearded Al Pacino as someone puts three bullets into him. He slides to the ground and, as the stretcher arrives to wheel him away for medical care, he begins a mental monologue that forms the running narrative for the movie--the story of how Carlito Briganti (Pacino) came to be in this unenviable position.
It is 1975 in New York City, and Carlito has just been released from prison as the result of a clever appeal by his good friend and lawyer David Kleinfeld (Sean Penn). After delivering an impassioned speech to the court about how he now intends to go clean, the former assassin and "J.P. Morgan of the smack business" returns to his Puerto Rican neighborhood to run a disco club with the aim of legitimately earning the $75,000 he needs to buy into a rental car business in the Bahamas. Along the way, however, Carlito discovers that a violent reputation isn't easily dismissed, and before long he's forced into a kill or be killed situation. Balancing the negative influences in Carlito's life is his girlfriend Gail (Penelope Ann Miller), one of the few people he truly trusts.
Brian DePalma has been on a skid recently. Although several years in the past, his disastrous version of THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES is still fresh in the minds of everyone unfortunate enough to have endured it, and his "return" to the thriller genre with RAISING CAIN wasn't a whole lot more promising. CARLITO'S WAY is a step up, but this is not the same DePalma who got the adrenaline moving with THE UNTOUCHABLES.
CARLITO'S WAY has a number of superbly-directed action sequences, and there are moments of absolute brilliance, but these are connected by a plodding narrative that sputters to find an appropriate pace. Two hours and twenty minutes is too long for this motion picture; there are numerous scenes that could have found their way to the cutting room floor without sacrificing much of the story. DePalma, however, appears unwilling to have cut anything with Pacino in it (the shooting script was nearly identical to the finished product).
The last half-hour has the electricity of any good thriller, except for one little problem: we already know the ending. Some films (NO WAY OUT comes to mind) are aided by the method employed here: starting at the end, then going back and telling the bulk of the story as a flashback. CARLITO'S WAY is not one of these. By knowing that Carlito is going to be shot (not to mention how it's going to happen), it drains away suspense from the big chase through Grand Central Station. In fact, it's amazing that DePalma manages to raise the finale to the level of excitement he achieves.
Presenting CARLITO'S WAY in this curious fashion is apparently motivated by a desire to have Al Pacino narrate the story. This is a bad decision in more than one way, since the voice-overs are largely redundant, consisting of observations like "I had a bad feeling about this" or "Bad move," most of which the viewer can figure out on his or her own.
Coming off of his virtuoso performance in SCENT OF A WOMAN, one expects a lot from Pacino, and he really doesn't deliver. His portrayal of Carlito is competent, but not masterful. While it's helpful to remember that a below-par offering from Pacino is often better than an outstanding job by many other actors, that doesn't prevent the viewer from comparing this to SCARFACE, SERPICO, SCENT, AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, and THE GODFATHERs. Pacino fails to invest Carlito with much energy, and there are times when the performance is flat.
Also, it becomes something of a challenge to identify Pacino's constantly-shifting accent. Sometimes it sounds Puerto Rican (which it's supposed to be), but there are moments when it strays towards Italian or is marked by a leftover Southern strain from SCENT OF A WOMAN. There are not, however, any "Hoo-haa"s.
Perhaps the biggest surprise with respect to the cast is that Pacino gets out-acted by Sean Penn, who hardly looks like himself with frizzy hair and nerdy glasses. Penn plays an exceptionally annoying lawyer who spends most of his time snorting cocaine, and he does an excellent job in this low-key, but critical, role.
For the most part, Penelope Ann Miller is "just there." Her Gail is perhaps too sweet to work in a strip joint and be the boyfriend of a gangster; it isn't until one of her last scenes when we see a harder edge, and even then her performance verges on histrionics. Gail's love is supposed to represent Carlito's redemption, and the reason he thinks dreams are worth having, but I'm not sure the connection between them is strong enough for this to come across.
David Koepp's screenplay has some winning lines (such as "Favor gonna kill you faster than a bullet"), which isn't surprising considering the source material. The movie is based on two novels (CARLITO'S WAY and AFTER HOURS) by New York Justice Edwin Torres, one of the city's harshest judges (in sentencing one criminal, Torres informed him that "your parole officer hasn't been born yet"). Torres writes from his experience of what passes through his courtroom, so parts of CARLITO'S WAY are based, however loosely, on reality.
Technically, CARLITO'S WAY is a combination of the innovative and the banal. The camerawork is invigorating, if sometimes a bit too exotic. DePalma makes good use of the steadicam during the chase sequences, and this heightens whatever tension is present. Jellybean Benitez, a former DJ and club manager, is the music supervisor, and his choice of about a dozen mid-seventies hits helps to establish the time-frame. Patrick Doyle's score, however, is horribly out-of-place. The composer may do exceptional work for Kenneth Branagh, but his other movie music isn't particularly noteworthy.
CARLITO'S WAY probably should have been a taut thriller, but choices by DePalma in both presentation and editing have hamstrung it. With the expectations for this film as high as they were, the impact should have been more forceful, and the focus better tuned.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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