Carlito's Way

Starring: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller

Call it Scarface Lite: same great taste, but less filling. No coincidence I suppose that DePalma and Pacino have teamed up again to tell the saga of another doomed Latino gangster (or, for that matter, that a whole bunch of actors from Scarface have small roles here). I suppose it is a measure of their skills that despite how tired and derivative the picture is (and believe me, it is) you can't keep your eyes off it. Pacino is fine, but he's played this tune before. Miller has the traditional thankless female role (a waste). The surprise here is Penn, who forgoes his usual macho posturing to deliver a compelling portrait of a self-destructive loser in way over his head. I've got to give my man Brian credit though; he still knows how to make a movie. He almost manages to pull it off, too. Nearly makes it seem that there is actually something significant going on here. But not quite. Too bad. I wish he could get his teeth into some good material. On thing the picture does do is add credence to the notion that voiceover narrations are a fool's game and far more likely to hurt the film than help it. No doubt in this case. (11/16/93)