Carlito’s Way (Ultimate Edition) Review Score: 8/10 | Date Posted: September 21st 2005 In: DVD Reviews Starring: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Luis Guzman, Penelope Anne Miller, John Leguizamo. Directed by: Brian DePalma. Released by: Universal. Carlito’s Way (Ultimate Edition) Review by Vince D’Amato | HNR Contributing Writer Carlito’s Way is a strange point in director Brian De Palma’s often brilliant career... This is a period gangster film set in 1970’s Spanish Harlem, based on the books “Carlito’s Way” and “After Hours” by author Judge Edwin Torres, a fictionalized account of the Judge’s background and upbringing. Carlito’s Way was anticipated upon its theatrical release as being the first (and only, to date) reunion of mega-star Al Pacino and Brian De Palma since 1983’s Scarface. Cinematically speaking, it’s far more stylish and complex than Scarface, though this film has fallen into a strange crack in De Palma’s filmography: Not as commercially high-profile as De Palma’s best-known commercial efforts Scarface or The Untouchables, yet not a guilty-pleasure as De Palma’s sinfully sleazy and fun thrillers like Body Double, Dressed to Kill, or even 2001’s Femme Fatale, the types of thrillers which De Palma is also widely known for from more non-mainstream fans. That’s not to say Carlito’s Way isn’t good – it’s actually one of De Palma’s better films, so the mostly luke-warm reception this film has been greeted with from both critics and fans alike upon (and since) it’s theatrical release is actually a little puzzling to me. Technically speaking, the film is gorgeously shot (as usual from De Palma) and creates an energetic tension from the get go as we see Al Pacino recounting Carlito’s story from his prison release as he tries to go straight and win back his old gal, yet the forces of his previous nature seem to be conspiring against him, leading to double-crosses, shoot-outs and one of the best foot-chase scenes ever filmed. Carlito’s Way falls closely short of becoming epic, but I don’t thick “epic” would have been in this story’s best interest. The main drive of the plot has certainly been seen before, most notably in Dustin Hoffman’s 70’s movie Straight Time, but I think the actors brought so much into the characters of Carlito’s Way that it actually makes it a more memorable film from others of its ilk. At the end of the day, there must have been something to offer fans in this film, because here it is still around 12 years later, with a new Carlito’s Way movie about to be released from Universal: Carlito’s Way – Rise to Power. What’s interesting is that De Palma’s Carlito’s Way is actually based more on Edwin Torres’ second book, “After Hours” which starts with Carlito released from prison. The first novel, “Carlito’s Way”, was actually the character as a youngster growing up and defining his roots in the gangster community of Spanish Harlem, taking him through the early years of his life – which obviously, Pacino couldn’t play due to the age of the character. My understanding in that the new upcoming film is to be based more around the first novel. Anyway, Universal Studios has re-released the Carlito’s Way DVD as this Ultimate Edition, which includes for the first time several deleted scenes, as well as a five-minute segment titled Brian De Palma on Carlito’s Way, which is basically just a talking heads piece with the director – and is inexplicably lifted directly from the longer 35-minute documentary retrospective (which in turn is misleadingly titled as The Making of Carlito’s Way). Nevertheless, this retrospective is wholly worth the space on the DVD, especially for film fans or novice filmmakers, able to hear a master director talk about one of his great cinematic works (as he did on the Femme Fatale DVD). And as is notoriously standard with director Brian De Palma, there is no running audio commentary on the film. But the movie itself has never looked better, and if your only experience with Carlito’s Way has been a horribly cropped, panned, squished full-screen VHS print from your local rental store ten years ago, then I urge you to rediscover this film an DVD.

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