Lays it on pretty thick

Rating: 5/10 (4 August 2013)

Walking away from "Scarface", I can't shake the feeling this is an operatic comment on the American dream, by way of a gangster movie at least; that an immigrant can climb his way from societal dreg to drug kingpin and get the girl on the way. That's powerful cinematic stuff, and I can appreciate that. I guess my problem is in the execution; Pacino's cartoonish performance, the drawn-out narrative, the unbelievably overbearing score. It's got a good cast and the personnel behind the camera is accomplished, but subtlety and nuance are not its virtues. Which I guess is the point, but it gets old after a while.
"Scarface" has quite the influential legacy (particularly "Miami Vice" and Rockstar Games), and for that I'm grateful. But this is not for me.
5/10