Scarface (the Pacino one)

I'll keep this one kinda short.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Scarface is about Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant that rises through the ranks of Miami's cocaine cartel. You've assuredly seen spoofs of the famous "say hello to my little friend" scene, as it still pops up in movies today. Before I watched this film, that scene was all I knew about it. I think maybe I should've kept it that way.

Some parts of Scarface I enjoyed, such as Brian De Palma's frequent references to false paradise in his direction. Montana and his friend came to America to live what they considered to be the good life, filled with money, power, and women. Yet even as Tony gains all of these things, De Palma would show a completely contradictory image. As Tony sits in a giant bubble bath surrounded by luxury, the camera pulls out to make him seem lonely and still completely devoid of what he is looking for. There is one scene where we are shown a beautiful tropical paradise: sand, sun, palm trees, the works. Then, the camera begins to move and we discover it was a billboard we were looking at, and we are now being shown Tony and his friend in a cramped kitchen at a dirty food stand. Another case of this false paradise is a scene where Tony kills a certain character (I won't say who because I don't want to spoil anything) in that character's office. As the character begs for his life, he walks over to Tony and gets on his hands and knees in front of Tony. Right behind the two characters is a wallpaper that once again shows that tropical getaway, this time at sunset. This sunset could also mean that the character being killed is losing his own paradise, but I believe the entire thing is applying to Tony's fake one.

I was also very down the middle with Al Pacino's performance. There were moments when I thought Pacino was spot on, but there were many other moments when I was cringing at his over-acting. I could see why his performance has been iconic because it certainly is memorable. I just don't know if I am going to remember it for the right reasons. I mostly just recall him shouting and cursing in a thick accent that was pretty hard to decipher sometimes. I'm just not seeing the "icon" in him.

So overall I'd give Scarface a "meh" rating. I don't feel worse having seen it, but I also don't feel better. It's almost like it never happened.