Carlito's Way

CinemaSerf

Talk about swimming through treacle? "Carlito" (Al Pacino) has a pretty murky past when he is released from jail after five years (of thirty - on a technicality), but now free he is determined to hook up with his gal "Gail" (Penelope Ann Miller) and steer clear of the riff-raff he'd hitherto associated with. Easier said than done, though, when he almost immediately gets caught up in a gun fight with some drug pedlars and then embroiled in the complicated activities of his lawyer (Sean Penn) whose connections with the underworld are no less established than those of "Carlito" himself. What chance he can achieve his dream? On that front there is little by way of guesswork required - not least because we start where we finish, but unlike with so many films from this genre there is something more celebral about the characterisation of "Carlito". No, he's not a decent nor upstanding pillar of any community - even a criminal one, but he is a man of principle who is prepared to fight for what and who he wants. That puts him at odds with erstwhile allies whilst also exposing him to the machinations of a district attorney (James Rebhorn) who will happily use him regardless of the risk to him or "Gail" . There is ruthlessness here, but it isn't so much graphic as implied and as the poacher becomes something of the poached, Pacino exposes a vulnerability to his persona that almost has us feeling a bit of sympathy for his "Carlito". I felt as if I wanted him to sail off into the sunset happily at the end - after quite a tense cat and mouse game on the subway. Penn also works well here depicting an unpleasant yet magnetic sleaze-bag so deep in a mire of his own making that you just know he can drag anyone down with him. The camerawork doesn't overdo the POV style of intimacy which I find can be annoying at times, and with a score from Patrick Doyle that complements the steady pace of this gritty but still personable and enjoyably mature affair, this is a superior glimpse into the unforgiving underbelly of our society.