What makes conventions apart (not essential, but always there, like mildew in a shower) of the studio system of movies, as well as in the industry year in and year out, is that they set up the basic track lines for the viewer, to which then he or she can see if the re-treaded storyline will be more impressive than the last movie to take a convention to use. Brian De Palma makes one of his best (and under-rated) films by letting the viewer be as self-aware of the on-coming chiches and pit-falls of the drama the story intones, just by the narration. The aged, contemplative voice of Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) that chimes in more often than not, is as essential to the way the story unfolds as Henry Hill's was to GoodFellas- this guys been on the inside, he knows the ropes, he knows the stakes, he knows the nature of the beast that goes with the people he associates with, and now that he's out of prison, he doesn't want it anymore. Un-like a lesser film, we start to believe his intentions and reasonings.
Carlito's just been released, thanks in part to his counselor David Kleinfeld (Sean Penn), five years gone in a thirty year sentence, and when he returns to the street many look at him as if he's changed hearing that he's retired. Carlito just wants to get some money together, open a car dealership of sorts with a friend in the Bahamas, and works in a nightclub right smack dab in the heart of the coked up late 70's. As Carlito's tale unfolds, so does Kleinfeld's, as an inmate who's a client of his makes a demand that he can't turn down, which in turn brings a perpetually reluctant Carlito along with him.
Another wise decision on De Palma's part was the casting: Pacino's screen presence is sometimes enough to be intimidating, but his performance as Carlito is the part of the heart of the movie (the other part is with Penelope Ann Miller as his estranged girlfriend), compelling, tough, and intelligent from years of dope dealing and soaking up the gang-land atmosphere around him. Personally, I would put this over Tony Montana any day, if only because the accent rings truer as do his emotions. Then there's Sean Penn as Kleinfeld, a scheming, vain little man who starts off seemingly as legitimate as a lawyer of criminals, but as we soon learn, he has slipped into a world that he has no place to belong in. When I first saw little sections of this movie on TV, previous to recently watching it all the way through, I really didn't know who it was playing Kleinfeld, with his balding, curly hair and nervy, cranked voice appearing like it was Sean Penn, only as Woody Allen if he were ever an attorney. However, when the viewer looks into his eyes, both terrified and ravenous, one can understand the pathway to excess that most conventional crime movies take for granted.
Including supporting work by Penelope Ann Miller and John Leguizamo as the convincing critter Benny from the Bronx, and magnificent set-pieces that confirm De Palma's worth as a director of thrillers as well as dramas, this is an example of Hollywood movie-making that is waiting to be discovered over and over again, as proof of the value that can come in re-fashioning a genre piece.
Carlito's just been released, thanks in part to his counselor David Kleinfeld (Sean Penn), five years gone in a thirty year sentence, and when he returns to the street many look at him as if he's changed hearing that he's retired. Carlito just wants to get some money together, open a car dealership of sorts with a friend in the Bahamas, and works in a nightclub right smack dab in the heart of the coked up late 70's. As Carlito's tale unfolds, so does Kleinfeld's, as an inmate who's a client of his makes a demand that he can't turn down, which in turn brings a perpetually reluctant Carlito along with him.
Another wise decision on De Palma's part was the casting: Pacino's screen presence is sometimes enough to be intimidating, but his performance as Carlito is the part of the heart of the movie (the other part is with Penelope Ann Miller as his estranged girlfriend), compelling, tough, and intelligent from years of dope dealing and soaking up the gang-land atmosphere around him. Personally, I would put this over Tony Montana any day, if only because the accent rings truer as do his emotions. Then there's Sean Penn as Kleinfeld, a scheming, vain little man who starts off seemingly as legitimate as a lawyer of criminals, but as we soon learn, he has slipped into a world that he has no place to belong in. When I first saw little sections of this movie on TV, previous to recently watching it all the way through, I really didn't know who it was playing Kleinfeld, with his balding, curly hair and nervy, cranked voice appearing like it was Sean Penn, only as Woody Allen if he were ever an attorney. However, when the viewer looks into his eyes, both terrified and ravenous, one can understand the pathway to excess that most conventional crime movies take for granted.
Including supporting work by Penelope Ann Miller and John Leguizamo as the convincing critter Benny from the Bronx, and magnificent set-pieces that confirm De Palma's worth as a director of thrillers as well as dramas, this is an example of Hollywood movie-making that is waiting to be discovered over and over again, as proof of the value that can come in re-fashioning a genre piece.