Featured Movies
Partners
Carlito's Way
Al Pacino plays it Puero Rican, as an ex-con desperate to escape his gangster past, while Sean Penn lights up the screen as a geek lawyer intent on keeping him up to the eyeballs in crime
Although the story of De Palma's gangster pic is familiar (gangster gets out of prison and tries to go straight but is soon dragged back into a life of crime), it's rarely been done quite so stylishly and suspensefully as it is here. Pacino is Carlito, whose sleazy lawyer (an unrecognisable Penn in curly mop-top and specs) manages to reduce his sentence and re-involve him in all manner of murder, mayhem and extortion once he's free - even though all he wants is to rekindle his relationship with dancer Gail (Miller). Ultimately the movie belongs to Penn, whose performance as the crooked Kleinfeld is excellent. And De Palma's slow build-up of tension suggests that, for once, he is keeping a restraining hand on things. Until, that is, the stunning Grand Cenral Station finale, which is real edge-of-seat-stuff with a twist. Verdict Superb - if ultimately only second division - Pacino and De Palma. |
