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Carlito's Way Details

1993 DVD Certificate 18.gif
  • Rated:
  • 80
  • from 20,115 members

Notorious Puerto Rican heroin dealer Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) is released from jail on a technicality thanks to the manipulations of his sleazy lawyer buddy (Sean Penn). All he wants is to keep his nose clean and earn enough money to start a business in the Bahamas--and maybe rekindle romance with his old flame, played by .. Read more

Starring Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, Viggo Mortensen
Director Brian De Palma
Genres Action/Adventure, Drama

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Carlito's Way

Notorious Puerto Rican heroin dealer Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) is released from jail on a technicality thanks to the manipulations of his sleazy lawyer buddy (Sean Penn). All he wants is to keep his nose clean and earn enough money to start a business in the Bahamas--and maybe rekindle romance with his old flame, played by Penelope Ann Miller. Instead he finds himself back in trouble as a result of old-world codes of honour and misguided loyalties. It all takes place in 1975 Manhattan, in and around a nightclub Carlito manages, so there's plenty of classic disco music pulsing on the soundtrack. John Leguizamo plays one of the younger generation of hoodlums out to prove something. Viggo Mortensen and Luis Guzman star as a couple of Carlito's buddies from the old days. Brian De Palma, who directed Pacino a decade earlier in SCARFACE, makes this seem almost like that film's sequel. As expected, there's plenty of elaborate tracking shots and suspenseful set pieces, most memorably a pulse-pounding chase through Grand Central Station. It's adapted from two novels by New York Supreme Court Judge Edwin Torres based on his childhood in East Harlem.

Starring Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, Viggo Mortensen, Adrian Pasdar, James Rebhorn, Luis Guzman, John Leguizamo, Joseph Siravo, Jorge Porcel, Richard Foronjy, Ingrid Rogers, Frank Minucci, Jorge Porce
Director Brian De Palma
Studio UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Run time DVD: 2 hrs 18 mins
HD DVD: 2 hrs 18 mins
Certificate DVD Certificate 18.gif
Genres Action/Adventure, Drama
Language English
Dubbed French, Spanish
Subtitles Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish
Released DVD: 24 Jul 2000
HD DVD: 10 Dec 2007
Production year: 1993
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (6) of Carlito's Way

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  • 4 stars out of 5

    Ten years after Scarface, Al Pacino and director Brian De Palma reunited for another crime-doesn't-pay drama. Pacino plays Puerto Rican hoodlum Carlito Brigante, who's sprung from jail by his lawyer Sean Penn and is determined to go straight. But Penn, who fancies himself as a gangster, scoffs at the idea, and when Pacino meets up with his old acquaintances, he's soon back in trouble. Combined with regular scriptwriter David Koepp's smart and funny script, De Palma's visual flair comes into its own in the seedy clubs and backstreet dives of New York. The set pieces — a pool-room fight, a 15-minute subway chase and shenanigans on a train-station escalator — are among the most thrilling De Palma has ever filmed, while Pacino's restrained performance as the leather-clad, gently lisping Carlito allows plenty of scope for the supporting cast to chew the scenery.

    • Radio Times
  • "...Rich with irony and keen in its attention to detail. Handsomely made, expertly directed and colorfully acted....Brian De Palma is in top form with CARLITO'S WAY..."

    • Variety
  • Most helpful member's review of Carlito's Way

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  • 20 out of 32 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    Liked Scarface you should enjoy this!

    Brian De palma and Al Pacino combine in a great production that is perhaps a more rounded, complete work than the much earlier and more reknowned Scarface.

  • Most recent members' review of Carlito's Way

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  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    The street is always watching!

    By all accounts, Carlito’s Way belongs firmly in the umbrella category of ‘Gangster Movie’, despite the fact that the protagonist isn’t officially a gangster, at least not any more. This 1993 film reunites the team behind the 80’s shock thriller Scarface, with Al Pacino taking the book to producer Martin Bregman and getting the script overhauled before bringing a reluctant Brian De Palma back in to work his magic behind the camera. Carlito’s Way, however, feels a lot more like an antithesis of the over-zealous, cocaine fuelled Scarface with Pacino’s, Brigante trying to make it straight before retiring down to the Bahamas to run a car rental business - probably the most anti-gangster choice of profession available. Pacino’s character smacks a lot more of his role in Donnie Brasco (which was to follow later) than it does of his previous performances in Scarface or even The Godfather, and it offers a lot more scope for subtle nuances and character play from Al.

    The plot revolves around Carlito Brigante, an old time smack dealer who has been wangled free from his prison sentence on a technicality by his wheeler-dealer lawyer, Kleinfeld - played brilliantly and entirely devised by Sean Penn on the top of his form. Once out he sets up a reputable business, buying a slice of a nightclub and running it himself - legitimately. This however doesn’t run so well with the other gangsters in the area and piece by piece, Carlito is brought back into his old scene as well as having to fight off the new young pretender in the form of Benny Blanco from the Bronx. Carlito tries every way he can think of to keep himself straight and to get back the girl he lost because of his old life - a very polished performance from Penelope Ann Miller who is very reminiscent of a younger Nicole Kidman - but his old ties and misplaced loyalties conspire to direct him otherwise.

    The authenticity of the tale greatly enhances the feel of this movie, based as it is on Edwin Torres’ own experiences of growing up in that kind of neighbourhood. De Palma as well, understands greatly the feel that is needed for each location (listen on the special features how he set up the pool hall scene) and uses space and style to great effect when creating a believable world for his characters. Obviously the acting is superb, which is understandable given the array of talent on offer, and special note should go to John Leguizamo for an excellent portrayal of the odious Benny Blanco. It is difficult to take your eyes away from the screen at any point during this film as you are sucked into it’s dense atmosphere and its deep undertones.

    As a gangster movie, Carlito’s Way might not be what you are expecting, especially if you are watching it based on the Scarface experience. However, the pace and feel of the movie is perfect for its deeply intriguing characters and as the tension mounts towards the end, you really start to feel the adrenaline rush and the blood pump around your body; believing that the ending you were exposed to at the start of the movie might just not happen. At least you hope not.

    Carlito’s Way astounds at every turn and deserves its place in both De Palma’s and Pacino’s back catalogue as one of their greatest achievements. It’s influence is obvious in other films of the genre and also in the great gangster epics that are the Grand Theft Auto games. I personally enjoyed this more than Scarface and hope that this ‘sleeper hit’ will eventually be recognised - passed over as it mostly was when released - as the genuine character study that it is. Sublime.

      • Billy from Edinburgh, Scotland
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Rating breakdown

20,115 Member ratings
  • 100
2,964
  • 90
2,742
  • 80
5,438
  • 70
3,780
  • 60
2,739
  • 50
1,237
  • 40
566
  • 30
313
  • 20
237
  • 10
99

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    • Carlito's Way - HD DVD Version
      Notorious Puerto Rican heroin dealer Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) is released from jail on a technicality thanks to the manipulations of his sleazy lawyer buddy (Sean Penn). All he wants is to keep his nose clean and earn enough money to start a business in the Bahamas--and maybe rekindle romance ...

    • Carlito's Way
      Notorious Puerto Rican heroin dealer Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) is released from jail on a technicality thanks to the manipulations of his sleazy lawyer buddy (Sean Penn). All he wants is to keep his nose clean and earn enough money to start a business in the Bahamas--and maybe rekindle romance ...