Rating of
2.5/4
"Scarface" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 04/19/12
Some films sum up the time in which they were made perfectly, often regardless of their quality. Brando's The Wild One is one, Easy Rider is another. Brian De Palma's Scarface is the epitome of the 80s; a tale of the single-minded and ruthless pursuit of wealth and possessions leading to emptiness and ultimate self-destruction in a sea of tacky excess, all set to a truly HORRENDOUS soundtrack. And by the same measure, of course, it is also very dated. It's easy to see why Pacino's Tony Montana became such an icon, but it truly is a one man show; the direction is clumsy and unsophisticated and the peripheral characters and their relationships secondary and superficial at best. But Pacino really is something to behold. Like the previously mentioned films, it's certainly worth seeing once (largely for the sake of curiosity) but it certainly is not the cinematic masterpiece many make it out to be.
