A Drug-Fueled Epic on Greed/Excess

Rating: 8/10 (28 August 2012)

It's almost pointless to comment on a classic movie like SCARFACE because it's one of those movies that just about everyone's already seen and formed an opinion on. And based on the cult status the movie has achieved, popular in rap music with loads of movie merchandise overflowing on the shelves at your local Spencer's, its love is pretty universal. Brian De Palma's classic is the ultimate depiction of the 80's cocaine scene. At nearly three hours long, it's an epic about the rise to power of one man through the ranks of the international drug trade. Based on the 1932 movie of the same name (and the novel from Armitage Trail), it follows Cuban immigrant Tony Montana as he arrives in Miami in 1980 as one of the Cuban prisoners lumped into the mass emigration to get rid of his countries worst offenders. He arrives in the States with nothing but wastes no time in attracting the attention of the crime world when he assassinates a political prisoner in exchange for his green card. From there, he uses his brutal nature and honorable business ethic to climb to the top of Miami's cocaine trade, stomping out anyone who makes the mistake of crossing him. Still SCARFACE is, if anything, a morality tale where money and power lead to paranoia and eventually a tragic end. SCARFACE is iconic and has left it's impression on just about every aspect of our culture, from music to the video game industry (pretty obvious if you've ever played "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City".
Yeah, I'm one of the millions that consider this an awesome movie. And it's no surprise why it's become so popular: it's the ultimate underdog story. Montana begins the movie with nothing but his ambitions. He follows his own code of ethics, believing in honest business dealings but unafraid of resorting to violence when he needs to set an example. He sets his sights on his employer's beautiful wife Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer), regardless of the risk. And with nothing but his "balls and his word", he accomplishes everything he sets out to do. You can't help but cheer him on because Al Pacino as Montana is just so freakin' charismatic from the very start when we meet him during an interrogation with Federal Customs agents. It's no wonder what everyone wants to be Tony Montana, despite the fact that he'syou knowa drug dealer. The movie has gotten some heat for it's supposed glorification of violence and cocaine, but it's really nothing of the sort. Sure, Montana is a violent man and engages in some pretty horrible dealings but, the fact of the matter is, he pays for it all in the end. The movie doesn't leave you with fuzzy feelings and delusions of the easy life. It's a warning about how bad business leads to bad times. Montana gets what he deserves by the end of the movie, in probably the best final standoff ever put to film.
No offense to more hardcore Pacino fans, but this is his best role in my opinion. He's suave, charming, and dangerous. You can't go far without seeing Montana's face plastered on something; even I used to have a SCARFACE cigarette case with the trademark black and white poster image. Michelle Pfeiffer is gorgeous as Elvira, the drugged-out woman of Montana's dreams. Beautiful on the outside, dead on the inside; Elvira acts as a spoil to Montana's ambitions. She reminds him that he's nothing more than a trigger-happy villain who deals in drugsa man so obsessed with his money and business that nothing else matters. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is Montana's younger sister Gina, a naïve woman who's begun dabbling in the dark side of Miami's scene. There's an almost incestuous undertone to the way Montana acts over-protective of his sister, going into a frenzy at the mere thought that another man has his hands on her. The movie also boasts great performances from Steven Bauer, F. Murray Abraham, Robert Loggia, and Paul Shenar. There's a lot of talent in this movie, and some incredible production value to boot. It doesn't hurt that this movie was shot in the early '80s and perfectly able to capture the bright neon veneer of the cocaine decade. The '80s are universally accepted as the decade of excess, and this movie is all about the excess. The style, the violence, the "yeyo", the killer montageSCARFACE is certainly epic.