Scarface (1983)

Film #5

THE PLOT

In 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel while succumbing to greed.

Year 1, Day 5

BEFORE: This is now day three of the Pacino run. Fun fact: while only the third cut received an R-rating (as opposed to an X-rating for the first two), the director, Brian De Palma, went ahead and released the original cut to theaters since the studio executives could not tell the difference between the cuts.

AFTER: When it comes to crime films, I have very mixed feelings. I thoroughly enjoyed The Godfather but I could not stand Goodfellas.

The story and the portrayal of the crime world are the two most important aspects for me in this genre. At the high end of the spectrum there is The Godfather which has a fantastic story and showed people what mob life was like. On the opposite side there is Goodfellas which portrays the crime world in stunning detail, probably more so than The Godfather, but the story was not appealing to me at all. In Scarface, Al Pacino’s character, Tony Montana, is quite entertaining to watch progress from the smart and observant criminal to the greedy and oblivious drug lord as he leads you through the drug world in 1980s South Florida. So while Scarface has a story I find much more captivating than Goodfellas it still falls short of a great crime film like The Godfather

RATING: 3 out of 5