Pacino Vortex

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2004)

21 years after release, I finally seize the opportunity to watch "Scarface" in its entirety. It's all about Pacino. He's why I rated it as high as 8 stars and he's why I rated it as low as 8 stars. With the direction of Brian de Palma and the script of Oliver Stone, the stars align to allow Pacino to blaze like a meteor.
But oh that accent! "Scarface" was made long enough ago that many of the roles of Latin characters were filled by Italian-American actors which of course includes Pacino. I have a co-worker who occasionally affects an accent (he's of Mexican heritage himself) to get laughs. I discovered he got it from Pacino here.
But Pacino can't be denied his use of the f-word. In fact, it should be decreed that only Al Pacino can say the f-word. With "Scarface" and continuing with fare like "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "Heat", no one can bark the f-word as juicily as Al Pacino.