Pretty average rise-and-fall gangster pic that was unfairly savaged at the time.

Rating: 7/10 (14 May 2004)

A Cuban immigrant with a suspect past comes to America as part of a general clean out (by Castro) of social and political troublemakers.
Interesting that this movie seemed to get a lot of people (pro critics especially) reaching for their poison pens. Maybe the fact that this was a remake of a well regarded movie that got them reaching for the special ink bottle or maybe because it told a lot of truths about America's drug saturation at that point in history? Whatever the facts the movie seemed to be singled out for special treatment which was unfair. While this is not a great movie, it is quite entertaining and is believable in outline form - if not technical detail.
(No killer would open up a machine gun in a night-club when then they could lie in wait outside, for example.)
I have never taken cocaine and intend never to do so. It is - for me - the ultimate masturbation drug: Stick it up your nose and then march around feeling great about yourself for twenty minutes before reality starts poking its ugly nose in again after which you repeat the cycle. Al Pacino's past and past associations make him ideal for playing criminals because he knows them. I am not suggesting that he was one though. He is well placed for this lead role - which I understand is his favourite film role.
The problem with this piece is that it seems happy to play by TV series/movies rules. Make sure you sprinkle in a bit of sex/violence/shock every twenty minutes throughout the piece because otherwise the audience will switch off.
While hardly new - or explored in depth - this does raise the paradox of the criminal world: You have to deal with fellow criminals, but they always want to take your place if you are higher up the food chain!
This is a movie that comes pretty much as expected. Indeed if I was to have formed a checklist of content before seeing it I would have put a line throughout most of the list as the titles rolled. It is - however - pretty gory at times and there is a scene with a chain saw that must be one of the most unpleasant pieces of business I have ever seen. Truly revolting.

Director De Palma always reminds me of the boxer who keeps getting world title fights and never quite becomes the champion. After a while you have to conclude it isn't all bad luck or bad timing - he just isn't good enough to go all the way!