Serpico

Plot synopsis:
Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) covered in blood and slumped in the backseat of a police car as it races to a hospital with lights and sirens blaring. He has just been shot in the face. The rest of the movie tells the story of Serpico's career up to this moment, starting with him becoming a police officer in 1960. He is very idealistic and believes in non-brutal methods to catch criminals. Serpico also refuses to join in on police corruption, specifically that which involves shaking down and taking payoffs from gambling and drug dealing organizations. His refusal to take bribes earns him the suspicion of his fellow officers throughout the majority of the precincts to which he is assigned. Additionally, Serpico finds trouble fitting in due to his embrace of the counterculture of the 1960s: He moves to Greenwich Village, grows his hair and beard long to the point where he must maintain a plainclothes appearance, and associates with a more left-wing crowd that is distrusting of the NYPD.At first Serpico tries appealing to his bosses about the corruption, but gets nowhere. He enlists a highly-connected fellow officer, Bob Blair (Tony Roberts) in his fight against corruption, but not even he can crack the city administration's general indifference. His campaign and the resulting complications and harassment within the department take a toll on his mental health and his relationship with fiancee Laurie (Barbara Eda-Young), who ultimately leaves him. After meeting a sympathetic police inspector who agrees to assist him with both disrupting the gambling rackets and later calling attention to the problem by going to the New York Times, he is transferred to narcotics, as he has always wanted. However, he finds himself in an even more corrupt and hostile atmosphere than before, where he has mostly enemies and almost no allies due to the reputation he has garnered. As a result, he is shot in the face during a raid on a heroin lab due to his fellow officers' reluctance to come to his aid. After being left for dead and eventually discovered by two uniformed officers, the story takes over from the beginning and shows a recuperating Serpico being tended to by his family and few remaining friends as well as being anonymously harassed with hate mail.At the end of the film, Serpico testifies to the Knapp Commission on police corruption. The film ends with him waiting to board a ship; despite being promoted to detective (a lifelong ambition of his) and being decorated by the department for "conspicuous bravery in action" (along with the two officers who abandoned him during the drug raid) he resigns from the NYPD and emigrates to Switzerland.

Tags: dark, neo noir, violence, atmospheric, flashback, romantic

Review:
He acts with such charm and smoothness in some scenes, while explosive and intense in others.The movie gets into a big plot line about police corruption and Serpico blowing the whistle on the department.
It's scenes like those that make you sympathetic for him.Sidney Lumet and Pacino made a great team for this movie, and proved to be a great team for Dog Day Afternoon a few years later.
Sidney Lumet proved himself to be a highly competent and effective director/storyteller for the true story of New York Officer Frank Serpico, who became famous after appearing to testify before the NAPA Commission about payoffs and corruption in the Police Department.
Serpico was an officer in a time when political corruption was rampant and many of his brethren were found "on the take." The true story is brought to the screen under the superb leadership and direction of Sidney Lumet and the brilliant performance of Al Pacino as Serpico.
In 'Serpico' he uses an excellent script to tell the story of an unorthodox character in Frank Serpico, a hippie in a time when most cops were square as a doorway but whose honesty when faced with police corruption marks him out as a man of remarkable character.
I'd been wanting to see SERPICO for some time; this real-life crime drama based on Peter Maas' nonfiction bestseller about an honest cop fighting corruption in the NYPD was one of the few grim-and-gritty New York crime dramas that my older brother didn't take me to see when I was a kid!
The guy is a bundle of contradictions, the kind of man who could charm you, move you, and drive you crazy at the same time: a nice Catholic boy who can't commit to any of the devoted women in his life; an honest, downright rigid moralist who's also a free spirit known as "Paco" to his friends and lovers; and an undercover cop with detective aspirations whose hippie-like appearance rankled his superiors and fellow officers even as it helped him blend in on assignments.
Rent the DVD to see some fascinating extras about the making of the film and the filmmakers' experiences with Frank Serpico himself, including interviews with Lumet and producer Martin Bregman (no Pacino, alas)..
The name of Pacino's character, "Serpico," has become synonymous with "honest cop." It demonstrates what a strong impact this movie had on millions of people.
Sydney Lumet spares us little in this gritty urban drama using almost fly-on-the-wall documentary technique to involve the viewer in the action and stand us directly alongside Pacino as crusading street-wise cop Frank Serpico.
It takes a great acting performance to carry the viewer all the way through this lonely journey, even when the character himself becomes at times obnoxious and unfeeling to his (few) supporters; thankfully Pacino gives a performance the real-life Serpico deserved.
The movie tells the true story of Frank 'Paco' Serpico who was about the only honest cop of the entire New York police department at his time.
The movie provides a realistic view in the corrupt and tough world of the New York police and tells the story of Serpico in an intriguing and realistic, perhaps maybe even documentary like way."Serpico" is a movie with a typical fantastic '70's atmosphere and it's a movie that still holds up today.
Pacino was just a young beginning actor at the time (He had just done his first big role and movie; "The Godfather".) and he obviously had still a lot of learning to do.The rest of the cast consists out of unknown actors (with the exception of apparently Oscar winner F.
Al Pacino dominates every scene he is in as Frank Serpico, a New York City policeman who feels that it is best to be honest and not stick out in public.
And when he decides to do something, he may get more of a fight from his fellow law-protectors than the criminals he is trying to bring down.A year after breaking open in The Godfather, Al Pacino gives a gritty, tough performance as a man who knew what to do that was right and was determined not to let anything stop him.
With a strong leading performance, solid writing, and slick directing by master of setting director Sidney Lumet, Serpico ranks as one of the best cop movies and a shining testament to the goodness of one man despite all the corruption around him..
The true story of New York cop Frank Serpico's battle against the corruption that permeated the NYPD in the late '60s and early '70s is just such a story.Everything about "Serpico" feels 100% real and authentic.
If you want a movie that makes you feel like you were there at a particular time and place with a particular person, "Serpico" is it.It also bears mentioning that Pacino-as-Serpico is just about the coolest-looking protagonist in film history.
In the late 60's, in New York City, the idealistic Italian descendant Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) joins the New York Police Department and on his first day, he learns that his colleagues are dirty, sharing money received from the extortion of criminals.
Finally, Switzerland gives political to him and he moves to that country."Serpico" is one of the best films by Al Pacino and Sidney Lumet about the true story of idealism versus police corruption fought by an idealistic man.
Stories like that of Frank Serpico, a NYC cop in the late '60s - early '70s who bravely testified against police corruption, fascinate us because they make us wonder what we would do in that character's shoes and feel glad that at the end of the day we don't have to answer that question.
Al Pacino stars as the man with these trivial choices, Frank Serpico, who was asked to be the snitch for the NYPD in the Bronx in terms of identifying officers taking bribes from criminals, a role that subjected him to harassment and threats from his fellow officers and caused him extreme amounts of trauma affecting his job and his personal life.Well all come to believe that a police officer's first duty is to the people -- to do the right thing.
There is an excellent scene at a party where he asks his girlfriend (Cornelia Sharpe) not to tell anyone he's a cop given people's reactions, perhaps sowing the seeds that he needs to help change the police force.We are given a deep look a seedy and uncertain New York, filled with criminals who can bribe their way free and cops who are a happy to turn a blind eye as long as they get a cut.
Any film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino should be great, but "Serpico" is mediocre at best.
Chronicling the true-life story of Frank Serpico, a police officer who exposed corruption in the NYPD, the film comes from that exquisite golden age of cinema, lasting from the late '60s through the late '70s, when paranoia infected the country and our most trusted and honored institutions were becoming suspect.
This is based on the true story of Frank Serpico, a New York cop who was an honest man from a good Italian family.
This means the movie is based almost literally on what Frank Serpico saw and did as a moral and unshakeable cop in New York just before the film was made.
Granted, it is based on the true story of an incorruptible Italian-American cop named Frank Serpico who brought down an entire police precinct that was "in on the take." But true stories aren't always warranting for great films.
Did they not notice that every time a crucial character moment came around this really, really bad music started to play over the actors'?The plot is pointless because I've already delved into it--a downtown police precinct is corrupt and they can't stand Serpico's morality.
When the film Serpico was being made it was only a year after the real Frank Serpico resigned from the police force.Al Pacino gives a raw powerful performance as the keen, clean cut rookie policeman trying to resist the cancerous corruption rife in the police force where almost every officer is on the take and bending police procedures.
His performance in Serpico playing the title character, an honest cop who refused to participate in the corruptive system that surrounded the NY police department, is considered by many to be his best work, which is saying a lot when you take into account his other films during that four year span: both Godfather films, Dog Day Afternoon, and Scarecrow.
Al Pacino is the only actor who really gets to stand out here because the entire focus is on him and as time passes the rest of the characters come in and out of his life, but he is reason enough to check the film out.
For years I had been wanting to watch this movie I knew it was one of Pacino's best, and I must say "Serpico" didn't let me down it's a wonderful film that with each scene you watch you feel the gripping drama and intense power it brings.
And Sidney Lumet does it again he shows he can direct stories so well yet he was probably helped here since this was an actual real life thing that occurred on the New York City police force in the early 1970's.
And really Frank Serpico should be given a hand for the way he stood up to police corruption.As you can see from the first parts of the film when newly hired rookie policeman Frank Serpico(Al Pacino) is hired he's young eager and has the desire and will to be a superhero type of a cop.
The film really combined the elements corrupt establishment and counter culture well as Al in his role is such a hero for standing up against the big crooked bad guys.Really "Serpico" is a great character story of one man's brave real life courage who fought for truth and honesty.
For his second Academy Award nomination and his first in the Best Actor category, Al Pacino essayed the title role in Serpico, the true story of an incorruptible cop and a man who Diogenes could have ceased his search for an honest man with.As I'm sure many idealistic young people do, Frank Serpico joined the New York Police Department with hopes of making a difference in society.
Oddly enough Save the Tiger is about another man at a crossroads in his life and his choice is break the law.Sidney Lumet does love New York, so many of his good films are based and shot there.
The true story of a cop who stands up to corruption in NYC police department makes for a gritty film.
Pacino received a richly deserved Best Actor Oscar nomination for his sharply edged performance as real-life undercover narcotics cop Frank Serpico who exposed a wealth of corruption in the New York City Police Department facing all too many tempting offers of bribery, promotions, and ultimately retribution by his fellow brothers in blue.
I mean, I would feel disappointed if I paid to see one of his movies without it.But this is his early work, this was when he was developing himself as an actor and actually acting like different people, not just playing Al Pacino.So we get to see what Pacino could do before he was delegated to only play Pacino, which alone is a breath of fresh air.But we also get to see a problem with the police departments that we are still grappling with today, a problem that is even more in the headlines and one that wasn't solved despite Serpico's involvement.If nothing else it makes this film all the more illuminating.It's a movie frozen in time and, unfortunately, possibly doomed to be relevant far into the future..
Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) wanted nothing more than to be a police officer in New York, but once he gets there, he finds that things aren't as he'd hoped.
Frank Serpico (Pacino), a legend to us mere mortals out on the street, but the most hated man on the NYPD, so much so he almost paid for his sense of what's right and wrong with his life.Picture follows Frank through his integration on the force and onto the build up of corruption he comes across.
All the time we are also getting an insight into the man himself, his life and loves outside of work, with Lumet and Pacino making sure Frank is not painted as a saintly perfectionist, there is no halo above his head, he has flaws like everybody else.
And "Serpico", the cop who fought police corruption to the point of being almost alienated by his own convictions and risking his own life, is an extraordinarily story of gritty realism, carried by one of Al Pacino's most defining and iconic roles.What is so powerful about the film is its total detachment from any desire of making Frank Serpico like a kind of modern Robin Hood.
As you would always expect, Al Pacino offered a solid and steady performance as New York City police officer Frank Serpico, an honest cop stuck in a sea of corruption in the department who earns the enmity of his fellow officers by trying to blow the whistle on the goings on.
Based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who eventually went undercover to expose the corruption of his fellow officers, after being pushed to the brink at first by their distrust and later by the threats and intimidation they leveled against him.
Certain scenarios such as marrying love of his life Laurie (Eda-Young); whether or not he gives an officer 'the arrest' after doing most of the work in running the crook down and when the envelope of money arrives, it acts as the catalyst for bigger things to come.With regard to its study of one man ignoring the conventions, Serpico as a film still carries a hard boiled edge but it's more prescribed to other cops; a bathroom beating in another room entirely acts as a good example.
This is a true story.It tells about a NYPD officer Frank Serpico who testified against police corruption in 1971.In this film by Sidney Lumet the story of the good cop is very well told.Serpico from 1973 stars Al Pacino.There's nobody who could do the job better than him.He is very intense in portraying the character.And he also looks pretty much like the real Frank Serpico with his beard and untidy appearance.Then there's the late great John Randolph portraying Chief Sidney Green.Jack Kehoe plays Tom Keough.Biff McGuire is Capt.
The film is based on a true story and explores the career and personal life of Frank Serpico.Al Pacino delivers a skilled and forceful performance as Frank Serpico.
The story of police officer Frank Serpico who, practically single-handedly, took a stand against the enormous corruption within the NYPD, and paid for it dearly, is still fascinating and still relevant; and thanks to a killer performance by Al Pacino, this biopic by Sidney Lumet stands the test of time.
Al Pacino portrays real-life New York City patrolman Frank Serpico, who is ostracized by his colleagues after exposing corruption within the police force.
Clearly I am in the minority for those who have commented on this film before me as I did not find it anything but average.Serpico tells the story of Frank Serpico, a young cop who only wants to do his job and lead an honest life.
The true story is brought with suspense and especially Al Pacino as Frank Serpico makes the movie better than it actually is.You know Serpico will be shot later in the story because the opening scenes reveal that.
Because the smart way the story is edited in the beginning and the terrific performance by Al Pacino this is better than the average police film..
The movie is based on a true story, which makes it more powerful, and after the universally loved The Godfather, it's nice to see Al Pacino playing a good guy.Expect a lot of grit amidst this 1970s exposé, as well as a typically made film of the decade.
One year later, he outdoes himself as Frank Serpico: a policeman who battled police corruption everywhere in New York, as he was the only honest cop on the force.
The sense of foreboding, given that the viewer knows the outcome, is second to none, and there are some electrifying stand-out moments, like when Serpico absolutely loses it when bringing in a suspect.Sidney Lumet's excellent direction adds to the real-life and inherently gritty of the movie, while the New York backdrop is expertly realised.
Al Pacino gives an excellent performance as Frank Serpico,an oddball undercover policeman in New York who refused to take any bribes or kickbacks like everyone in the department does.
Serpico is a perfect film that tells the true story of how the police were corrupt in New York City way back in the 1970's.
This film is based on a book by Peter Maas, it tells the true story of cop Frank Serpico and how he exposed corruption amongst members of the New York Police Department.
I know six cops who said they'd like to." Fresh out of the Godfather, Serpico was the film that further cemented Al Pacino's status as a powerhouse performer.
The true story about an honest New York cop (Al Pacino) who blew the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.What can I say?
"Who can trust a cop who don't take money?" Keough asks Serpico, reasonably.What Lumet gives us in "Serpico" is not just a police corruption story but a real character piece.
The way Al Pacino Played the character of Frank Serpico is truly great.
Tony Roberts is great in a supporting role as Serpico's friend, Bob.Sidney Lumet directs it well, but the movie could have been a tad shorter; it feels like we didn't really need to see some of the scenes which the film could've easily done away with.