A Wild, Violent and Downright Insane Ride

Rating: Null/10 (6 September 2011)

Scarface (1983)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Ultra-violent and over-the-top remake of the 1932 film has TonY Montana (Al Pacino), a Cubian refugee coming to Miami where he starts off broke but slowly rises to the top of the cocaine trade. I've seen this film probably around a dozen times and I'm still not totally sure what to make of it. On one hand I have a hard time believing that so many people would consider this a "great film" because there are moments that are so over-the-top that I can't help but laugh. At the same time it's hard to deny that this is one of the most entertaining films of its kind. SCARFACE is vile, vulgar, insane, desperate and the greatest thing is that you never really know where it's going to go next. If you're familiar with the 1932 film with Paul Muni then you know the story here is pretty similar with many of the same plot points but the screenplay by Oliver Stone goes for broke as if really tries to deliver something even if I don't know what. On one hand you have to wonder about some of the calls including the silly soundtrack and slow motion zooms whenever Montana is "fixated" on his sister. What about the scenes at the end where he pretty much plants his face in the cocaine and comes up with it on his nose like a clown? Is this meant to be taken seriously or are Stone and director Brian DePalma simply going over-the-top for some black humor? The violence in the film has become legendary over time with some outrageous gun fights and of course the infamous chainsaw sequence that kicks the film off and pretty much lets the viewer know that anything's going to be possible in this film. The film offers up a very strong supporting cast with Robert Loggia, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Steven Bauer doing fine work. Of course, the film belongs to Pacino who goes absolutely insane here. I've read reviews stating this was his greatest performance and I've read reviews calling it some sort of self-parody. I think what makes the film so special is that it's both. As with the film being so over-the-top, so is the performance by Pacino. He's absolutely nails the character, the accent and the evilness of Tony but at the same time you have to wonder what decision was made to make him so crazy, over-the-top and wild. He's really like a wild animal and while I love watching the performance it's easy to see why so many would be turned off by it or question the wildness. As crazy as the performance is, I think the scene where Pacino addresses some "good" people in the restaurant sequence is among the best work of his career. SCARFACE is about as wild and crazy as you can get and while it's far from a masterpiece it's still a highly entertaining movie. There's certainly no moral code here and I'd question some of the decisions made but if you just want a long, wild and violent ride then they don't get much better than this.