Tony Montana

Rating: 7/10 (6 December 2013)

Brian De Palma directed this updated remake of the 1932 film with Paul Muni. Here, Al Pacino plays Cuban immigrant(and Castro political exile) Tony Montana, who arrives in America with his friend Manny(played by Steven Bauer) and immediately goes to work for the drug cartels, nearly getting murdered at first, but Tony is a determined survivor, and gradually works his way to the top of the Miami underworld, where, despite his wealth and beautiful wife Elvira(played by Michele Pfeifer) he finds himself bored and dissatisfied, though a betrayal of a rival crime boss and obsession with his younger sister Gina will prove to be his downfall... Though extremely violent and profane, not to mention long, this film is still a guilty pleasure, with a most entertainingly over-the-top performance by Pacino and energetic direction, plus a most glorious go-for-broke ending.