Carlito's Way (1993)

Very well executed

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

One of my favorite films: A career criminal gets a shot at redemption but the ghosts of his past come back to haunt him. A haunting portrayal of love and loss and heroism in the BG of a city of crime. Pacino does not of his best performances (disappears into the role) as Carlito. Sean Penn also does one of his best performances as an attorney who succumbs to the temptation of crime and destroys himself and the world around him. A beautiful story.

Carlitos way is about inner city people trying to make it in a cruel a ruthless competition for money and power. Following both a street thug and a morally bankrupt star lawyer the movie portrays human beings from different social classes each trying their best to make against the backdrop of the coke and crime ridden urban environment of the 70's USA. Al Pacino gives Carlitos warmth. He stands out as a sympathetic guy trapped in a game of honor codes and eye-for-eye mentality, while Sean Penn shines as a the highly educated and cynical chess player, while also coming off as being ridiculous and pathetic. Sean Penns dance moves are hilarious. This movie is remembered for the tension between the sympathetic yet slightly grotesque portrayal of 70/80 coke parties and crime fests, like movies from Scorcese. Everyone seems locked in to their destiny and despite trying to skew it ends up on their chosen path. Just like the movies title alludes to.Like Scarface the movie features some of the best and most ridiculous cocaine party scenes, complete with old business men dancing and prancing with sweaty foreheads and near heart attack looking moves.

This quote from the film's third act could easily be the tagline for Carlito's Way, one of my favourite films and even a possible contender for my top 10 of all time. It tells the story of Carlito Brigante, a former criminal on early release, and his attempts to leave his past life, despite pretty much everyone around him dragging him back.It's only natural to draw comparisons between this and Scarface, both are crime movies directed by Brian DePalma and starring Al Pacino and in some ways the automatic comparison might be what has hindered this films popularity. Scarface is the more iconic and quotable film (and rightly so) but for my money Carlito's Way is the better film overall; a more mature and contemplative piece. There's a scene in a diner about mid-way through the movie in which Carlito tells Gail"This counsellor in Lewisburg, Mr. Seawald, once said to me: "Charlie, you run out of steam. You can't sprint all the way. You gotta stop sometime. You can't buck it forever. It catches up to you. It gets you. You don't get reformed, you just run out of wind.""This felt almost like a direct acknowledgement of Scarface and how this film would differ from it; Tony Montana in Scarface is clearly a character who tried to sprint all the way and ultimately paid for it. Carlito's lived to be older than Montana, he's more world-weary and experienced. In some ways Carlito's Way benefits from the fact Scarface came before it. Montana was petulant, he lived fast and died young. Now DePalma and Pacino present us with a different story, one that takes its time and carries the weight of experience and of maturity.There's several instances where Carlito shrugs off something that would've outraged Montano. Clearly Carlito's the more relaxed of the two, more comfortable in his own skin and less likely to cause a stir when it's unnecessary. Carlito seems tired of who he was in his youth and so he tries to do something different.The main problem with this plan, and the main conflict of the film, is that his departure from who he used to be is far from a clean break. He takes what he tells himself is a temporary job, running a nightclub populated by criminals, many of whom knew him when he was younger or are familiar with his legend. In other words: bad influences. Carlito makes the potentially fatal mistake of trying to be both a semi-gangster and a reformed citizen simultaneously and the end result was always going to be problematic.This very interesting dimension of DePalma's film is brought to the forefront by the character of Benny Blanco, an up-and-coming criminal who Carlito takes a strong dislike to despite the fact a friend tells him "It doesn't make sense you should hate this guy because this guy is you twenty years ago." He's essentially the physical manifestation of Carlito's younger self. When Carlito compromises on his no-crime promise and runs the nightclub, Benny is often lurking in the background. He represents Carlito's old life and Carlito now represents the new life he wants, it's only natural conflict should arise between the two. This external conflict between them matches the internal conflict between the two forces inside Carlito. Because he doesn't completely eradicate his younger avatar and instead keeps him around, the past (Benny) ultimately throws the future (Carlito) into severe jeopardy. When Carlito throws Benny out of the club, the two stand illuminated by red light. Blanco's whole face is covered in it; he's fully a gangster, totally at ease with what he is with no internal struggle to rectify. Carlito only has red light on one half of his face, divided exactly in the middle. He's not quite a gangster anymore but he can't quite fully leave it behind. It's this internal struggle that causes so many problems for him.There's also themes about growing older and hopes being dashed. There's a great scene where Carlito goes to see his former girlfriend who he still has feelings for. She tells him she's a dancer, yet, when he goes to see her perform, it turns out she's a stripper. Pacino plays it brilliantly, keyword: nuance. Up until that moment he had thought Gail had achieved her lifelong dream and yet instead he sees it's simply a pale imitation (a storyline that parallels his own). He has his shirt buttoned up to the top but when he enters the club and sees what kind of place it is he unbuttons his top button, adjusting his expectations (as well as demonstrating how easily he can oscillate between the two worlds when really he should stick to one). It's a film about the perceived necessity of compromise but also the dark ramifications of it.The dialogue, and Pacino's delivery, can feel a little cheesy occasionally but, if you let yourself enjoy the film and be invested in the characters, that won't be a problem.Slow in parts, but never boring, when the action scenes arrive they're some of the best you'll see in film (Particularly the chase sequence). DePalma uses long shots for the chase scenes rather than the more traditional quick, excessive jump cuts and the end result proves to be very effective, giving a real sense of peril. IMDb only allows 1,000 words so I can only briefly praise Sean Penn's fantastically seedy character and the excellent soundtrack.Overall, it's an interesting story, exploring a dimension of criminal life that's rarely been explored (and rarer still been explored this effectively). The tragedy of this film is that Carlito just can't shake off his former life, his compromises end with him getting in his own way, which makes for a more human story, even a more relatable one. One of Pacino's best films and the best DePalma film I've seen so far. Great for fans of cinema, directing and characterization.9/10

Ever taken a vow (think religion, marriage or New Years resolution) that just felt impossible to keep? Carlito did.CW traces the true rehabilitation of Carlito Brigante (played by Al Pacino), a Puerto Rican drug lord, incarcerated, then sprung through a technicality after a five year prison sentence that he was rightfully charged for.You might expect a guy like that, who is given a new lease on life through paperwork and not true justice, would return to his old wrongdoings. But Carlito's goals are pure: he's going to move to "paradise" and become a car rental agency worker. His first step to realizing this dream? Raising 75 grand from taking over the club of a debtor that is called -- I'm not kidding -- El Paradiso. In the setting of the club, in the darkened corners of his old neighborhood, try as he might to eschew his old lifestyle, the past proves a slippery fish to release for old Carlito.Carlito's struggle is deep -- he feels disconnected to the world outside, in part because he feels like everything else -- the faces, the names, the businesses -- have changed, and in part because he feels unrecognized for who he has become -- a man apart from the Carlito the old familiar faces want him to be.De Palma and the producers are in love with the outside / inside motif, and use every chance they can to leave Carlito out in the rain, wistfully watching ballerinas through long windows. Top-shelf cinematography. Sean Penn stars as Carlito's Jewish lawyer, Kleinfeld, and honestly, after all of the Sean Penn flicks I've seen, I had absolutely zero idea it was him until mid-way through the film. Set to a score by Patrick Doyle, the opening credits alone warrant reason to put this on. Carlito's Way is such a good flick that you might actually feel selfish if you watch it on your lonesome.