Day 81 - Serpico



Day 81            Serpico [1973]
                          
Screenplay                    Waldo Salt & Norman Wexler
Based on                       ‘Serpico’ by Peter Maas
Director                         Sidney Lumet
Cinematography            Arthur J Ornitz
Music                            Mikis Theodorakis
Leads                            Al Pacino, John Randolph, Tony Roberts, Barbara Eda-Young, Bernard Barrow, Allan Rich, Edward Glover
Production                     Artists Entertainments Complex, Inc., Produzion De Laurentiis International, Manufacturing Company S.P.A.

IMDb                                7.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes                90%

I’m going to say something you all may well disagree with. As I often do. For that is the beauty of opinion. I’ve never been a huge fan of Pacino. Before you get all heated – hear me out. There is no doubt about his legendary status in the acting world, I’m not even going to list his movies as you probably know them well. I just feel he always plays a very similar, rage-filled character. You could argue Scarface was a change-up, but really, he was just the same character with a heavy Cuban accent. I admit I still have a lot of Pacino movies to watch, so I’ll endeavour to watch them all and maybe he will change my mind. Anyway, having watched Serpico I have finally found a role that I enjoyed watching him in. I have writing rated high, this is largely due to it being a true story. The real Frank Serpico did an incredibly brave thing – outing corrupt NYPD cops – risking his own life in the process. Pacino is wonderful, he is hated by almost everyone in this film, even alienating both of his beautiful girlfriends, and yet we are with him every step of the way. We feel his anguish at being trapped between a rock and a hard place, he has the odd helping hand along the way, but they are all as scared as him to do anything about it. The film is all about Pacino, and rightly so, on to the next.

Acting                           3.5 / 4
Writing                          3.5 / 4
Cinematography               3 / 4
Music                               2 / 4
HWF rating               3.5 / 4