Scarface (1983)
4
This is probably the best, most fully-realized movie director Brian DePalma has ever done, which, considering that it's Brian DePalma we're talking about, isn't saying much. And, if it wasn't for the mesmerizing Al Pacino, it would be another imitative, superficial piece of patented DePalma schlock. It's Pacino's performance that elevates it to the status of a near-classic, his Tony Montana character an iconic representation of the most brutal outer fringes of 1980's no-holds-barred predatory capitalism. The original 1932 "Scarface" was directed by Howard Hawks from a script by erstwhile Chicago reporter Ben Hecht, evidently based on the life of mob kingpin Al Capone (Hecht was visited at the time he was writing the screenplay by Capone representatives who were curious as to whether their boss was going to be "unhappy" with Hecht's finished work; luckily for Hecht, he was able to placate them). The original "Scarface" was a zany, silly, but entertaining movie that starred a scenery-chewing Paul Muni and George Raft, who in his real life (as opposed to his "reel life") was friends with such gangsters as Bugsy Siegel and Owney Madden. DePalma's "Scarface" loosely follows Hecht's storyline, modernizing it, updating the time frame to the 1980's and changing the setting to Miami, as well as making explicit the incest angle that was implicit in Hawks' version. Instead of Muni's scar-faced Italian, Pacino's Tony Montana is a crudely-charismatic, vicious Cuban thug, part of the infamous Mariel boatlift (there's a note tacked on at the end of the picture, telling viewers that they shouldn't judge all Cubans by the actions of a ruthless few; an admonition that seems almost quaint by today's standards). Instead of the bootleg booze that Muni's character marketed in 1932, Montana deals in cocaine, and his services are very much in demand. Pacino is one of those performers like DeNiro, the late Brando, and Nicholson; he'll do a dozen performances where it will seem as if he's sleepwalking his way through the part, lulling you into thinking he's over-rated and over-hyped-- until you see him at his magnificent best, when you'll realize that he's one of the best cinematic actors in America today (and regret that he can't or won't contribute the same intensity to every performance he gives). His Tony Montana is all belligerent electricity and frenetic cocaine-fueled motion, a vile, cold-blooded killer who still managed to retain remnants of a twisted morality (he won't kill children or women). Compare this performance to his placidly evil and reptillian Michael Corleone, or his dense, befuddled murderer in "Donnie Brasco", and you recognize the extraordinary range that Pacino has as an actor. Steven Bauer plays the George Raft part, Michelle Pfeiffer is the WASP eye-candy, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is very sexy as Tony Montana's younger sister (I can't help but wonder why her career hasn't gone further than it has-- she's sexy and talented, which is always an unbeatable combination, in my humble opinion...but I digress...). Still, this is Pacino's picture. Without him, it would have been a justifiably forgotten, overlong celluloid relic of the early 80's. Because of Pacino's performance, and only because of Pacino's performance, it remains electrifying must-see cinema, even decades later.
