The Plot:
Brian De Palma's
blood-and-sun-drenched saga of a Cuban deportee’s rise to the top of Miami's
cocaine business has become something of a popular classic since its release;
it's been referenced in rap songs and subsequent gangster movies and quoted
the world over. Despite this lovefest with the dialogue, the film’s brutal
violence and lack of positive characters still make it controversial and disliked
by certain critics. Al Pacino stars as Tony Montana, whose intelligence, guts,
and ambition help him skyrocket from dishwasher to the top of a criminal empire
but whose eventual paranoia and incestuous desire for his kid sister (Mary Elizabeth
Mastrantonio) prove his undoing. Michelle Pfeiffer plays Tony’s neglected
coke-addicted trophy wife, and Steven Bauer is his concerned friend. F. Murray
Abraham, Robert Loggia, and Paul Shenar are some of Tony’s sleazy business
partners and potential killers. Oliver Stone wrote the expletive-packed screenplay,
based on Howard Hawks’s 1932 version--which was ostensibly about Al Capone
and starred Paul Muni and George Raft. The synth-heavy Giorgio Moroder score
expertly evokes the drug-fueled decadence of 1980s Miami, and De Palma provides
several of his elaborate set pieces, including a horrific showstopper in a motel
room with a chain saw. (From Yahoo Movies)
My Thoughts: (Reviewed by K-Billy)
The definitive film for over the top Pacino. Scarface, directed by Brian De Palma, tells the story of Tony Montana, a Cuban who like so many others came across on the boat to America during the early 80s. With the help of his friend Manny and his criminal knowledge the two quickly rise in the ranks of drug dealing and organized crime. However once he’s had a taste Montana can’t get enough and ends up killing his way to the top of the heap, firmly securing himself as the biggest cocaine drug lord in Florida. However Tony’s violent nature and reckless behavior not to mention his overprotective nature towards his sister soon threaten his empire and his friendship with Manny who genuinely loves Tony’s sister.
As I stated above this is the definitive film for over the top Pacino. Penned by one of my favorites, Oliver Stone, it is truly an excess film. In many ways it’s a film that showcases the effects of rags to riches. The money and power takes Tony to new heights almost as much as it drags him down to new lows. It’s not as if Tony is really a protagonist really either for he certainly isn’t much of a likable character, being violent, rash, and overly confident. Brian De Palma shows a flair for the dramatic with his direction in this film, there are probably more crane shots in this movie with sweeping movement then in any film I’ve seen of it’s nature. Of course much of it is absurd such as the amount of cocaine Tony ingests or the liberal use of the word fuck but like it’s title character it’s meant to be over the top. Such a point is evident through the violence. It’s sometimes implied such as the chainsaw scene which doesn’t show as much as people let on to. And at other times it’s splashed across the screen in full red glory, almost proudly so. Such is the case in the grand finale of the film which accounts for one of the more famous film lines in cinema…“Say hello to my little friend!”
Pacino is absolutely insane in this film. Obviously he’s not Cuban and he doesn’t really try to hide that fact. His Cuban accent is a stereotype, a caricature character. This doesn’t take away from his performance though because you know it’s intentional. Besides the accent everything about him in this film is over the top. His delivery, his violent outbursts, and who can forget the incredible amounts of cocaine that his character consumes in the film. Some may be put off by this performance but being the big Pacino fan that I am I found myself enthralled by it. Steven Bauer is also excellent in his supporting role, he’s everything that Tony is not, calm, rational, he’s even quite a ladies man. Where as Tony’s brash nature ensures that the only women who sleep with him do it for his money. Steven Bauer’s character Manny perfectly compliments Pacino’s Tony. They are the odd couple for the ages but somehow work well together. As for the women in the film Michelle Pfeiffer plays Tony’s wife and does a decent job as the coked up gold digging wife. However Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is a much more interesting female character having to put up with the absurd jealousy of her overprotective brother.
At the end of the
film you will be impressed by the decadence of it all. This film doesn’t
quietly go out with a picture perfect ending but rather a deep dark descent
that ends with a bloody gun battle. It’s almost a tragedy in a way, rags
to riches to death. An effectively entertaining gangster film that has some
absolutely beautiful scenery if I do say so myself, due to the time period and
those crazy pastels in the 80s. I’ve always had a problem taking some
films from the 80s seriously because I don’t think they translate well
into this generation but Scarface is definitely an exception. An extremely good
film on all accounts with probably the best over the top Pacino you’ll
ever see.
Starring: Al Pacino, Steven
Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Rated R