Serpico (1973)
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Synopsis: Shot on location on the crime-filled streets of New York City, Sidney Lumet's unflinching adaptation of Peter Maas's best-selling book is a rousing portrait of courage in the face of insidious corruption. This is a motif that Lumet would continue to mine in later films, including 1981's... Shot on location on the crime-filled streets of New York City, Sidney Lumet's unflinching adaptation of Peter Maas's best-selling book is a rousing portrait of courage in the face of insidious corruption. This is a motif that Lumet would continue to mine in later films, including 1981's PRINCE OF THE CITY and 1997's NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN. Al Pacino is forcefully real as Frank Serpico, an independent young recruit entering the police force in the late 1960s, fulfilling a childhood dream. The good old boys of the NYPD lose no time in initiating Serpico into the ways of cutting corners, forging documents, and taking payoffs from local gambling operations and narcotic rings. His refusal to take illegal protection money and his counterculture lifestyle make Serpico a target for harassment by his unified and powerful peers. Lumet hones in on the evocative details of Serpico's personal struggles and inner turmoil as his obsessive fight for truth begins to have disastrous effects on his personal life and threatens his safety. SERPICO is a stellar example of gritty '70s filmmaking, featuring another electrifying performance from Pacino. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, Barbara Eda-Young
Screenwriter: Waldo Salt, Norman Wexler
Producer: Martin Bregman
Composer: Mikis Theodorakis
DVD Info
Release:
Dec 3, 2002
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Widescreen
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
- Dolby Digital Mono - English, French
Additional Release Material:
- Trailer - 1. Theatrical
- Featurettes - 1. SERPICO: FROM REAL TO REEL
- 2. INSIDE SERPICO
- 3. SERPICO: FAVORITE MOMENTS
Text/Photo Galleries:
- Photo Gallery with Commentary by Sidney Lumet
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Imbued with mythic and even religious dimensions, Al Pacino's resourceful, Oscar-nominated performance takes Lumet's quinessential 1970s New York film beyond the realm of a cop-corruption drama.
Al Pacino delivers a powerful performance in this compelling biopic of a cop and a city's police force.
Sidney Lumet's direction adeptly combines gritty action and thought-provoking comment.
Exibindo segurança e intensa presença cênica, Pacino demonstra inteligência ao criar um imenso contraste entre a futura angústia de Serpico e a maneira irreverente e jovial com que este surge nas cenas logo após formar-se como agente da Lei.
When all is said and done, Pacino is the riveting presence that makes the movie work and it is difficult to imagine any other actor in the part.
A virtuoso performance by Al Pacino and some expert location work by Sidney Lumet add up to a tour de force genre piece that transcends the supercop conventions to create a moving, engrossing portrait of Frank Serpico.
Another problem, these days, is Pacino's characterisation; he seems at times more like a misplaced hippy than a plainclothes cop.
One of the best films of our time, and our grandkids' time. "Serpico" is pure Pacino, powerful as hell.
The movie is compelling even if the scripters have taken liberties with the facts (and book) upon which it is based.
A quintessential New York director made this quintessential New York movie in 1973, with Pacino at his best as an honest cop who turns on his crooked colleagues.
Lumet's biopic of Frank Serpico, the virtuous cop who exposed a network of graft in the NYPD, feels depressingly relevant.
A true story about an honest NYC police officer dealing with police corruption.
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