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(Disclaimer: While stringent measures have been done to avoid placing spoilers in the following review, some movie elements placed below may still appear as spoilers to some people. Readers may choose to skip the synopsis and proceed to the opinion part further below.)
When one mentions the name Al Pacino, a lot of adjectives follow, but the ones you'd likely hear the most would be "great", "legend" and "epic". And he has proven himself worthy of those adjectives from the great roles he has done in numerous movies throughout the years. While some critics would disagree with me, one of those films is Scarface.
Scarface is a 1983 film by Brian de Palma about a narcissistic political refugee named Tony Montana (Pacino) who arrives to the United States after Castro orders mass emigration of Cubans due to economic problems. As soon as Montana hits US soil, he knew he was destined for great things.
After successfully finishing his first "job offer" from a rich drug dealer named Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia), the murder of a former Cuban high official also living in the same refugee camp as Montana's, he and his close friend Manny (Steven Bauer) land a daily wage-earning stint in a small burger joint. Discontent, he confronts Omar Suarez (Murray Abraham), Frank's henchmen, and the latter tells them about buying drugs from Colombians. The buy fails, and one of Montana's friends dies in the process. Manny was there to say Montana, and the two kill off the Colombians. Distrustful, Montana insists on delivering the package straight to Frank, instead of giving them to Omar.
Montana kills off one of the Colombians
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From this gutsy move, Tony Montana gets the respect of Lopez. Tony quickly moves up the ranks and is sent with Omar to Bolivia to negotiate with drug lord Al Sosa (Paul Shenar). Tony strikes a deal with the Bolivian, and Omar is taken out of the equation by Sosa's henchman. Upon his return in the US, Frank disagrees with how Tony handled the job and they go their separate ways.
Montana now repeatedly meets Frank's girlfriend Elvira (Michelle Pfieffer), and tells her of his plans about her. Elvira is reluctant, ultimately unresponsive towards Tony's move on her. On the other hand, Frank plots Montana's death. After a threat/offer from Frank's police friend Mal Bernstein (Harris Yulin) falls on deaf ears, an attempt to kill Tony materializes. It also fails, but not without enraging the hot-tempered Montana. He with his men go to Frank's place, finds Bernstein there, and kills them both. With Frank out of the question, Montana persuades Elvira to go with him.
Tony & Elvira dancing at Frank's favorite place
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Tony Montana becomes an expert of the trade and hauls in a lot of money. With his partnership with Al Sosa growing, his relationship with Elvira and best friend Manny deteriorates. Tony is hit with a tax evasion charge and he blames Manny for all the recent string of problems. All the while, Tony blames Elvira because she can't give him a child. Elvira soon leaves Tony. With Tony on the verge of serving a jail sentence, Al Sosa offers a way out through his powerful contacts. In exchange, Tony helps Sosa get rid of a journalist attempting to expose the Bolivian to the UN.
With Tony's instability, the assassination fails. Sosa is exposed and like a wounded lion, plots his revenge against Montana. Montana's mansion is soon overrun by Sosa's soldiers, and they easily pick off Montana's guards and corner Tony himself in his room. Tony kills off a number of them using a grenade launcher, but their number was soon too much for the narcissistic Cuban, who gets repeatedly shot until he falls in his own pool of blood.
Pacino doing the trademark "Say hello to my little friend!"
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During its release, many critics slammed the film for being over-extravagant, over-stylized and excessive, or as Simon Cowell would say, "too over the top." And yet, the film's earnings showed how much different the moviegoers felt. Over time, the movie would soon rise to its now legendary status.
In some ways, this film could be seen as a ramped-up, extreme version of Martin Scorcese's 1990 film, Goodfellas. A guy, engulfed by money and power, was soon broken is the central theme of Scarface, albeit to outlandish levels. If you look at it, you can actually view it as how critic Richard Roeper puts it, a "kind of B-movie version of The Godfather (Link to source)," which, at some point, actually is. Ultimately, the movie can be deduced to two words: crime pays.
While it may be true that the excesses the film took was nothing more than facetious gratification, it was that stark showing that was key to the movie's success in sending its message. The theatrical, over-the-top portrayal of the roles is just spot-on, especially for a stature of Al Pacino.
Pacino fits well in Tony Montana's shoes. His grand gestures, his witty remarks, all his subtle movements show the method to the madness. Montana's almost bipolar personality can only be delivered so well. It's a proven fact: Pacino is a master actor.
The grandiose picturing of violence in this film, compounded by thin lines of morality, particularly those dutifully displayed through Pacino's superb acting, show an full-impact reality of the world, and how it allows you temporary satisfaction of a small part of its riches for your soul.
When all is said and done, Scarface is simply put, a classic.
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