A CLASSIC IN ITS OWN RIGHT : "CARLITO'S WAY"

Now, hand on heart, I was not a great fan of gangster flicks before. I liked adventure films, car chases and all that jazz as much as the next person, but I had no particular love of the genre… I have to say that this film actually changed my outlook on the matter. Carlito Brigante, the hero that gives the film its name is played by Al Pacino who is dazzling and charismatic even today (even today as in he is, at a stretch, old enough to be my grandfather and I still think he’s hot…). And Senor Brigante is one of the most charismatic mobsters I have ever seen (I mean the character as well as the actor!) So if you’re tempted to go “Brian De Palma and Al Pacino? Right, lots of gunfire and tough guys… Next…” Don’t. Give them a chance – you might actually surprise yourself…
Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) is out of jail. He should have 25 more years to go but his lawyer (normally a coke-head who cares about very little except himself – played by Sean Penn) has actually got him out on a technicality just 5 years into his 30 year prison sentence. Carlito was an absolute king in the underworld in his time but he has changed. All he wants is to get back with Gail, the girl he had to leave when he went into jail (Penelope – Ann Miller), get some money together and go to the Bahamas to make a fresh start. A legal fresh start. However, in Carlito’s line of business retiring is not that easy. And Carlito still faithfully sticks to his old fashioned morals and “code” despite the changing times… Will his experience and genuine will to change be enough to pull him and Gail out of the underworld?
You know how some films set a precedent and then other films desperately run after in trying to catch the same effect? I don’t exactly mean sequels, although they come into it too… I mean one film that is successful with a certain theme that “gives birth” to loads of other films on the same theme… Take the gangster trying to redeem himself against the odds for instance. I remember talking about this in The Town. The theme is definitely not new, heck it was probably discovered back in the 50’s or 60’s when gangster flicks were more “in”. But if there is one film that carried the torch to modern times and kept it glowing to this day, it is Carlito’s Way. Another thing, what is it with Al Pacino and his ability to play gangsters we can sympathize with? Think about it, the Godfather series, Scarface and here Carlito Brigante… We are all normal citizens who would have nothing to do with the “mob” usually but in front of the TV, we somehow end up cheering for Carlito – in this case – or Tony Montana or Michael Corleone… Well I guess there is actually a different reason for this in each separate case; however, I think the reason in Carlito’s case is the fact we all hunger for a fresh start. Carlito, for all his sins, is easy to identify with; he has old fashioned values, he is charismatic and he genuinely hungers for a new life and a fresh start – the way we all do some times. Maybe we subconsciously associate the mobsters forever closing in on Carlito with the real world closing in on us and our dreams? I don’t know… Anyway, this film oozes the quality one would expect from a director like Brian De Palma and actors like Al Pacino and Sean Penn… And if you are a fan of gangsters redeeming themselves and that kind of film, don’t miss this one. Much better to watch the original instead of the copies it gave birth to, no?