I know it’s a 30 year old movie but maybe some people haven’t seen it.
You’ve been warned.)
This is the last good yet true Brian De Palma movie.
I’m not sure exactly what happened.
The 80’s were a bizarrely uneven decade for him with great movies like Blow Out and The Untouchables.
However, he also directed Wise Guys with Joe Piscopo and Casualties Of War with Michael J.
Fox playing a soldier in Vietnam.
The good movies became fewer and farther between even into the 1990’s.
Carlito’s Way is the exception.
This was Sean Penn’s first movie in three years and he was nearly unrecognizable.
He’s so good that you forget you are watching Penn.
Compare this to his character in Mystic River.
In Carlito’s Way, he has none of that same confidence.
He is trying to so hard to fit in.
He’s a booksmart guy but desperately wants to be a gangster.
We get Pacino in a role he is naturally so good in.
It’s just a treat getting a gangster movie with Al Pacino.
He’s great here and he was great as a Cuban in Scarface.
You think Viggo Mortenson playing someone named Lalin Miasso is bad casting?
That I can agree with because it was a ridiculous use of a great actor.
But that only proves how great Pacino is here.
No one likes using train stations as climatic scenes more than Brian De Palma.
That’s OK though because no one would be better.
The ending of The Untouchables is stunning to watch and thrilling.
I think the Carlito’s Way ending might be better.
The shot of Pacino on the escalator shooting mafiosos is wild.
It’s a brilliantly paced sequence that only De Palma could do.
As far as nitpicks, I have a couple.
The dialogue could be tightened up a little but that’s admittedly a small thing.
This was written by David Koepp who had one of the greatest years ever for any screenwriter.
He also wrote Jurassic Park which came out that summer.
It took away what would have been more of a surprise at the end.
Carlito’s Way
37.
Wayne’s World
45.
Back To The Future Part III
47.
A Bronx Tale
48.
The People Vs. Larry Flynt
49.
Eyes Wide Shut
50.
The Green Mile
54.
Man On The Moon
55.
Boyz N The Hood
56.
Grosse Pointe Blank
57.
The Talented Mr. Ripley
63.
The Usual Suspects
65.
In The Line Of Fire
66.
My Cousin Vinny
67.
The River Wild
79.
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
Stir Of Echoes
82.
Mission: Impossible
83.
For Love Of The Game
86.
Being John Malkovich
87.
Men In Black
88.
Glengarry Glen Ross
92.
Die Hard With A Vengeance
93.
The Blair Witch Project
94.
Any Given Sunday
99.
The Wedding Singer
100.
