Great, Underrated Gangster Film

I just noticed that only 6 people have written an epinion on this film so I had to help get the word out. "Carlito's Way" teams up Al Pacino ("Godfather," "Heat," "The Insider," "Donnie Brasco," etc!) and director Brian De Palmo who made the epic gangster flick, "Scarface" ten years earlier. The character of Carlito is just about as memorable and even more likeable than that of Lt. Col. Frank Slade, a role which gave Al Pacino an Oscar win the previous year in "Scent of a Woman."

Al Pacino stars as Carlito Brigante, an ex-gangster who we first meet in a courtroom as he is getting out of a jail sentence on a technicality. Carlito has served 5 years of his 30 year term, and during this time, he has learned that he must abandon his old life of crime and move on to a much more legitimate job. His dream is to move to the Bahamas with his ex-girlfriend, played by Penelope Ann Miller ("The Relic,"), and go into the rental car business down there. To accomplish this dream, he must first earn enough cash to get started. He is drawn into business at an up scale night club and sadly ends up getting involved with many people such as Benny Blanco, played by John Leguizamo ("Summer of Sam," "Whispers in the Dark"), who are in the area of business Carlito is trying to leave behind.

This film is of course comparable to the many great gangster films that we've seen in the past quarter decade from the "Godfather" films, to "Goodfellas," to "Scarface." Although most people, including myself, would not find "Carlito's Way" quite as good as the aforementioned films, it does create its own identity, especially in Pacino's lead role. The very underrated and hardly recognizable Sean Penn ("Dead Man Walking," "The Game," "The Thin Red Line") adds his own brilliant performance to Pacino's commonly excellent turn as Carlito. Sean Penn and Penelope Ann Miller were both nominated, deservedly so, for their respective supporting roles at the Golden Globes.

Rated R for language, violence, and some sexuality

I'd give this 4.5/5, but since Pacino's in it, I'll round up to 5/5.