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Carlito's Way

1993

Brian De Palma

Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, James Rebhorn ...

7.9

41,009

Thriller Puerto Rican Carlito Brigante is released from jail after serving five years of a much longer stretch. He vows to go straight and to live life as a fine, upstanding citizen. He even rekindles a romance with his ex-lover. However, Carlito's associates cannot seem to leave him in peace... his nephew involves him in a pool-room gunfight, his lawyer asks him for "favors" which spiral out of control, and even an old friend (now a wheelchair ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"Brian De Palma in his best films is a muscular director who relishes over-the-top behavior, and here he paints a gallery of colorful gangsters and lowlifes (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Janet Maslin The New York Times	"Pacino brings vast entertainment value to a film that otherwise would not make great sense (...) A droll portrait of the disco years"	POS
United Kingdom	Kim Newman Empire	"Utterly compelling - Sean Penn is a powerhouse in support (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"There's a secondhand feel to the way this gangster movie delivers the goods. 'Carlito's Way' is haunted by a ghost from De Palma and Pacino's past — 'Scarface'."	NEU
United States	Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"If Brian De Palma has made a duller movie than this 144-minute snoozefest (1993), I count myself fortunate to have missed it."	NEG
United States	Michael Sragow The New Yorker	"What makes the material feel new is Carlito’s unpredictable chemistry with his lawyer (...) Few films actually made in the disco era can match the kinetic allure of this 1993 production"	POS
United States	Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times	"A solid and acceptable if not overwhelmingly exciting piece of work (...) The film lacks the energy and originality to make a lasting impression."	NEU
United States	Hal Hinson The Washington Post	"Mesmerized by [Pacino] (...) we are happy just to watch him, without thinking much about the film's laggardly pace or its overworked themes."	NEU
United States	Zach Campbell Slant	"In its own way, the film is just as stylized a take on the crime genre as something like Warren Beatty’s 'Dick Tracy' (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	Time Out	"The picture comes alive in its set-pieces, most notably in the climax at Grand Central Station. It runs long and is ultimately not much more than a showpiece"	NEU

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