Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Free after years in prison, Carlito Brigante intends to give up his criminal ways, but it's not long before the ex-con is sucked back into the New York City underworld.
Carlito's Way is elevated by Al Pacino's nuanced, deeply felt performance and Brian De Palma's masterful direction and cinematography — the Penn Station finale is a bravura set piece of sustained suspense. The plot follows a familiar redemption-arc-undone structure, competently executed but not reinventing the crime drama wheel. Novelty is solid but not exceptional given it occupies well-trodden gangster territory, though De Palma's neo-noir visual style lends it distinction. The ending is genuinely tragic and powerful, landing with real emotional weight.