Movie Stats:
Released 1983 (USA)
American, in English (significant Spanish, mostly non-translated)
Director - Brian De Palma
Stars - Al Pacino, Steve Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer
Plot Summary:
Set in 1980s Miami, after arriving as a “boat person,” Cuban immigrant Tony Montana (Pacino) experiences a meteoric rise up the ranks of a drug cartel. Bauer co-stars as Tony’s BFF Manny & Pfeiffer as Tony’s love interest, Elvira.
Warnings:
Extreme violence; extreme gore; heavy blue language; brief female nudity (breasts & butt); heavy consensual drug use (mostly cocaine).
Bad Stuff:
Most of the actors playing Cubans are not, in fact, of Cuban descent (or even Latinx descent for that matter).
It’s just a little bit too long.
The end scene is pretty over-the-top ridiculous. I also thought it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. [SPOILER] I mean, this guy spends millions of dollars on security and his system is that easy to defeat? Like anybody can just jump over the wall? Seemed like an overly convenient plot device to make sure Tony could have his now-famous last stand. [SPOILER]
Good Stuff:
With one exception (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, as Tony’s sister, Gina) the acting was very good.
I liked the overarching theme, how it played with the idea that what one wants and what one needs can often be two entirely different things.
I enjoyed the character of Tony, as reprehensible as he was. He’s not a genius. He’s not a criminal mastermind. He’s a guy who knows what it’s like to be at the bottom & he’ll do anything to keep from going back there. That felt real to me.
About the Performance:
After watching “Heat,” I was worried about seeing another Pacino film. I agonized over whether to watch this or “Scent of a Woman.” But I’ve never been interested in Woman, and I figured, if Pacino went all AL PACINO in this, at least it made sense for a guy involved in the cocaine business. In the end, I quite liked him in this role. There’s a quiet, coiled sense of danger about Tony through the whole film. You know he’s going to explode and you sit there in tension, waiting for that moment when it bursts forth. It was well done. There are times when he turns into a screaming maniac but those scenes felt natural. It reminded me of why people consider Pacino a great actor.
Other performances of Pacino’s I’ve reviewed: The Godfather; The Godfather: Part II; Heat.
The Verdict:
I actually liked this film a lot. It’s not a cinematic masterpiece or anything, but it’s entertaining. My husband found it slow. I liked that about it. The tension ratchets up and up as the film goes along. By now, most of us are familiar with that famous last scene, whether we’ve seen the movie before or not, so you know it’s coming and you feel a bit breathless, wondering how things are going to get there. I was even impressed by the underlying message, which I wouldn’t have expected from a film of this caliber: getting to the top doesn’t matter if you haven’t taken the time to work on yourself because unhappiness follows you wherever you go. I suspect lots of people enjoy this film because they dream of going out in a blaze of glory but I liked it for its philosophical musings.
I give it 4 stars.
