Serpico (2004)

SerpicoFocusing the whole feature i.e. of more than 2 hours only on a single character needs content and enough material to feed the audience which they easily provide with gripping screenplay to not let them wander off the screen even for a frame. Sidney Lemut still needs some better work on his execution and editing but that barely factors in here as the adaptation is way too smart and ahead of its time. Al Pacino is literally the heart of it; he beats fast and hard that helps it pumping and keeping the viewers alive for this glorious experience. Serpico breeds power, corruption, rage and politics on screen and successfully delivers it to the audience communicating through stellar performances like never before.

Al Pacino wasn't quite on fire as an actor when he made this film but he sure lit things up afterward. Fresh off his role as Michael Corleone in "The Godfather", Pacino broke new ground as an honest cop taking on the entire New York City Police Department in this unflinching look at police corruption in the five boroughs. You have to admire what the real life Frank Serpico must have gone through, I'm sure the picture only touched the surface of what he must have faced among fellow cops and superiors. More than anything, the story reinforced the idea that after just so long banging one's head against a wall, is there anyone at all you can really trust to get a message across. After all was said and done, Serpico got his gold shield at a point when it really didn't matter to him any more. Disillusioned, Serpico retired from the police force on June 15, 1972 and spent a decade recuperating and living in Switzerland and the Netherlands before returning to the States. Born in 1936, Frank Serpico turned eighty earlier this year as I write this.

Serpico is about police corruption. Usually when a film is made about police corruption it is always set years in the past. As if to convey a message that: 'We were bad then but we have cleaned up our act now, today we are different.'It is never the case. 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 Serpico becomes a jaded, cantankerous long haired bearded hippy loner as in each turn the bureaucracy turns a blind eye to the corruption or is knee deep in it.Director Sidney Lumet built up a filmography that examined in depth police corruption and he shoots this movie in a street smart, earthy, edgy manner.Politicians here care more about public relations and soft soaping Serpico by telling him they are taking his allegations seriously, when they really want to sweep it under the carpet. Serpico becomes a pariah, a lone wolf knowing it is only a matter of time he will be hunted down by his fellow officers.This is one of the great cinema film of the 1970s. It still reaches out and grabs you. Pacino gives an honest performance helped because he met the real Serpico and knew he had to do his story justice. The film is not just about Pacino's performance. It is nothing without Lumet's busy direction and determination to bring corruption out in the open.

Serpico combined the talents of up-and-comer Al Pacino and director Sidney Lumet. Pacino had just broken into the Hollywood scene with his performance in The Godfather and Lumet had already directed successes like The Pawnbroker after a successful string of television gigs. Here, they sought to dramatically portray the life and times of Serpico, an honest cop in a sea of corrupt ones.And that already sums up the entire film quite nicely. We're introduced to Serpico, just a regular nice guy. He becomes a cop, eager to do good, and slowly but surely becomes aware of how many cops don't do their jobs. From nickel and dime stuff (shakedowns and payoffs) to large scale corruption (in the narcotics division). Yet, Serpico doesn't buckle under the pressure, but maintains his integrity, an act with which he puts his own life at increasing risk.The acting is one of the main reasons to watch Serpico. Pacino's peak was undoubtedly in the 70s. He received back-to-back Oscar nominations for The Godfather, Serpico, The Godfather Part II and Dog Day Afternoon and it's not hard to see why. Pacino has always been a highly dramatic actor and his skills are on full display in Serpico. Pacino captures Serpico's youthful enthusiasm (in the relationship with Laurie and when he's just starting out as a cop) and his mounting frustration (when Serpico's integrity is tested more and more).Speaking of mounting frustration, that's one of the best parts of the screenplay: the gradual shift in tone. The film starts with Serpico driven to a hospital after suffering a gunshot wound. We don't know how he's been shot, but the rest of the film flashes back to when he became a cop to the fateful incident. As such, the film starts out relatively lighthearted with his promotion to police officer and his idealism. And then the film shows glimpses of corruption on a small scale. Towards the end, Serpico's dealing with highly organized corrupt narcotics officers. Through it all, it becomes harder and harder for Serpico to defy his colleagues without fearing for his life. The film expertly captures this downward spiral. Sadly, it's also the film's structure and overall storyline that might be its greatest weakness. While the shift in tone is wonderfully realized, not a lot changes. You're basically watching countless variations on Serpico defying police corruption and it occasionally drags the experience down, though it all depends on the viewer. One might appreciate the slice-of-life style, while another might get bored. Overall though, Pacino's acting, the great directing and screenplay all coalesce to provide a thrilling experience.