Serpico (1973)

Serpico

• The 70’s was all about Al Pacino. You have ‘The Godfather’, ‘Serpico’, ‘The Godfather Part II’, ‘Dog Day Afternoon’, and ‘...And Justice for All’. That’s one heck of a lineup for a single decade. This movie only improves beautiful resume, and I loved his performance so much. Al just rocks so much. It’s kind of cool seeing him go from Michael Corleone to an honest cop who tries to expose corruption. The change between movies was really interesting, and hard to get used to at first. All I could see was Michael, but eventually, Frank Serpico really grew on you. It’s one of my personal favorite performances of his. Not only is the character himself really well written and performed, but his physical look is great, too. He rocks his beard and mustache, and his many outfits and hats are cheap but nice. I just loved the aesthetic of this movie. The scenery is simple but extremely authentic, which helps build the atmosphere. It puts you right into the setting. The story was very well written, although it was a tiny bit drawn out to me. Not that the runtime was too long, but it just felt very slow paced. That was my biggest thing. I found myself a couple times getting distracted from things beside the movie, but it wasn’t anything too bad. I was able to quickly get back into it. I think I was just expecting something a little different. But, I still enjoyed it for the majority of the movie. Overall, this movie was well made, and though slow at times, the whole thing wraps up nicely, and I was thoroughly impressed (again) with Al Pacino and his pure talent. I’d recommend this to most crime/drama fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!