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