Carlito's Way

Ten years after Scarface, Al Pacino and director Brian De Palma reunited here for another crime-doesn't-pay tale. Pacino plays Puerto Rican hoodlum Carlito Brigante, who leaves jail with the aim of going straight. However, his lawyer (Sean Penn) has other ideas as he fancies himself a gangster, so it's not long before Carlito is meeting up with old acquaintances and heading back into trouble. Bolstered by regular scriptwriter David Koepp's smart and funny script, De Palma's visual flair comes into its own in the seedy clubs and backstreet dives of New York. The set pieces - a pool-room fight, a 15-minute subway chase and shenanigans on a train-station escalator - are among the most thrilling De Palma has ever filmed, while Pacino's restrained performance as the leather-clad, gently lisping Carlito allows plenty of scope for the supporting cast to chew the scenery.