Carlito's Way (1993)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by David Koepp, based on the novels Carlito's Way and After Hours by Edwin Torres
Directed by Brian De Palma
Starring Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, Luis Guzman, Viggo Mortensen, John Leguizamo

Features:

• The Making of Carlito's Way
  
• Photo and Poster Gallery
  

My Advice: Own it

Carlito Brigante (Pacino) has just gotten out of prison because he was lucky enough to find a good lawyer in David Kleinfeld (Penn). Anyway, after he gets out of prison, he returns to his old neighborhood, but not to reclaim his former drug business. Instead, he makes it well known amongst those in the drug underworld that he is going to go straight. He is very serious about this, and in order to make his new life easier on himself, he gets back together with his old girlfriend (Miller). However, he doesn't realize that once you are in the drug world, it's not as easy to get out...mostly because of the new blood that wants in on a piece of the action. See, Benny Blanco (Leguizamo) has his sights set on taking Brigante out in order to make his mark on the local drug underworld--so things are going to get difficult.

I love this movie. It is just a powerhouse of incredible acting, writing and directing. Pacino is amazing in his performance as Brigante. He has some superlative dialogue to work with and his character's given circumstances really make for some wonderful dramatic tension not only between he and Miller but between he and everyone else who represents the world he is trying to leave behind. Pacino never lets his character have a moment's rest in this story and it shows in every weary blink of his eyes. Having said that, it's also safe to say that this is more of an ensemble show than a star vehicle, even though it is billed as such. Miller and Penn are equally powerful in their roles and seem to be pulling Pacino a thousand different directions at one time.

For a "collector's edition" DVD, this one certainly does not completely bring the bonus, I must admit. There is only one featurette on the DVD, but--points in its favor--it's one of those that sets the standards for DVDs to follow from now on. On the surface it is a typical "making of" featurette, but it goes much deeper than most. First of all, most of it is filled with interviews with novelist Torres. He goes into great detail about how this character came into being and then covers the hows and whys of translating the story from page to screen. There are interviews with De Palma and producer Michael Bregman as well as screenwriter Koepp. By the time you've finished watching it, there seems to be very little left to know about this movie and how it came to be made. And, other than the Photo and Poster Gallery, that's all there is to this DVD.

Although the featurette is extraordinarily solid, you know me, I would have liked a commentary with De Palma on the mic at the very least. Couple him with Koepp and a few of the actors and you would have an incredible bonus feature if the featurette is any indication. Hell, taking Koepp and Torres and giving them their own commentary track would have been priceless.

So, that's how this DVD plays out. It could have been better, but then again they can always be better--we're insatiable. Until they release the Uber-Mongo Edition, you're going to want this on your shelf.