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Carlito's Way on DVD (1993)

Carlito's Way cover art
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Average rating: (77%)
1111171120510
3.5
 
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: 138 mins
Certificate: 18
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Genres: Action/Adventure | Drama
Languages: English
Dubbed: French, Spanish
Subtitles: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish
Released: 24/07/2000
Also Available on:  Also Available on: HD-DVD

Brief synopsis of 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.

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Critics Reviews

Rating of 4 stars out of 5 Radio Times

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.

Variety

"...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..."

Rating of 1 
	  stars out of 4 Halliwell's Film Guide

A good, if unoriginal, gangster movie with some action sequences that add a little distinction; it would benefit, though, from being shorter.

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Members Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

Rated - 4 starsLiked Scarface you should enjoy this!

younglochinvar younglochinvar from Prestatyn [Highly rated reviewer] , 03/10/2007

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.

  18 out of 30 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 5 starsSimply the best

Jorja from Herts , 19/06/2004

Brian de Palma's awesome gangster flick is, in my opinion, one of the greatest films ever made. Slick, stylish and full of raw emotion.

Al Pacino excels as a drug dealer trying to go straight. Fab. If you haven't seen this film, shame on you.

  6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 5 starsPacino's best work since Scarface

A customer from Leeds , 20/09/2004

Words can't describe how many levels this film works on. It's a tragic love story - but not slushy enough to ruin the film, and it's a classic 'you reep what you sew' story but without being too 'moral'. With a well chosen cast, this film is believable, honest and gripping. Cool soundtrack too!

  5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 4 starsPacino's way

Gary P from Peterborough, England , 08/07/2004

Excellent performances (especially Pacino and an almost unrecognisable Penn) in a gritty tale of a Puerto Rican hood trying to go straight after 5 years in the 'Big House'. But things don't go quite according to plan...

  4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
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Most Recent Reviews

Rated - 5 starsBEST PACINO MOVIE EVER..

Soames Phares from Reading, UK , 24/08/2008

I CAN'T WRITE MUCH THIS MOVIE MADE ME BELIEVE AL PACINO IS ONE OF THE BEST ACTORS. IT'S A MUST WATCH MOVIE...

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