Very Good Loose Remake

Rating: 8/10 (28 August 2004)

If one looks underneath the profanity and perceived brutal violence of Scarface, they will find an admirable all-round motion picture. However, for those who have an open mind and are unwilling to dig deep, Scarface is still one cool film.
Antonio 'Tony' Montana (Al Pacino) has just arrived from Cuba along with his friend Manolo Ray (Steven Bauer) and about 125 000 other Cubans. It seems Fidel Castro has opened a Cuban port allowing Cubans to go to the United States. Unbeknownst to the U.S. though, Castro has secretly cleared his jails and included prisoners with the refugees (guess what group Tony and Manolo belong to...).
Tony is an ambitious person; he wants the world. He always says what is on his mind and does not let people take advantage of him. His attitude eventually lands him a job with Drug Lord Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia). Lopez immediately takes a liking to Tony, who takes a liking to Lopez's trophy girlfriend Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer). Lopez is not greedy; he is happy with the state of his business, but less happy with Elvira's cocaine addiction.
As Scarface progresses, it details Tony's rise in the drug business as well as his relationships with his partner Manolo, his sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) -of whom he is overprotective- and Elvira.
Scarface is loosely based on the original 1932 Scarface (directed by Howard Hawks and based on real life gangster Al Capone). The talented Brian De Palma (Carrie, 1976) directs the 'remake', written by another famous director: Oliver Stone (Midnight Express, 1978). Stone deserves real credit for his gritty yet accurate depiction of the drug industry. Stone, who was himself struggling with a cocaine addiction at the time, interviewed both Law Enforcement officials and drug dealers before writing his script. The lack of positive characters and an unconventional ending is also praiseworthy since it makes this film into an atypical Hollywood movie.
Brian De Palma's direction in this film is slick. While the plot is very violent, the movie shows only some of this violence. De Palma expertly cuts the camera away from some scenes at the last second, showing us the actor's reaction rather than the deed.
Visually the movie uses bright colours, with a focus on neon and whites. While this sounds contrary to the dark nature of the character's actions, it fits nicely with the colours of Miami and its people.
Lead actor Al Pacino gives an outstanding acting performance that further cements his place as an all time great. Pacino actually moved to Miami prior to shooting this film so that he could learn the Cuban accent and the mannerisms of the Latino people. While Pacino does not have to portray a wide range of emotions, (he is loud and angry throughout) his overwhelming on screen presence and accurate portrayal is Oscar-worthy. The rest of the cast also performs at a good standard, but no person sticks out more than the other does.
Scarface is definitely not a movie for people who are easily offended (there may be a record for profanity here), but for those who do not mind profanity (or enjoy it) Scarface has a great plot, great acting and great direction.