Rent Serpico (1973)

An early Al Pacino film about the famed police whistleblower Frank Serpico - Serpico review by TB

One of Pacino's early performances but also one that really put him on the map as one of the greatest actors of his generation.

Frank Serpico is a newly qualified & extremely moral cop working with the NYPD. He has become a policeman for all the right reasons: to want to help people & stop crime/criminals. However, and to his absolute horror & disgust, he quickly realises that his colleagues are every bit as disgusting and corrupt as the criminals he is attempting to take down. When he reports these actions to his superiors, he is first laughed at then slowly ostracised & begins to fear for his safety. But Serpico's decency & determination to expose this is not stopped. And as seen in the opening shots, he pays a very heavy price for this.

Pacino is excellent, really making us feel the horror & disgust of Serpico as he is associated through his colleagues with this nakedly immoral behaviour, being done often to the poorest & most vulnerable he is meant to be protecting. The other supporting cast are also good as well, plus the use of locations/shooting on the actual streets & cities that Serpico himself worked adds huge authenticity to the picture.

However, as much as I have given this 4 stars, that is mainly down to Pacino. Parts of this film are long, drawn-out and at times a bit dull as well. Pacino saves this from being a fairly rote police-procedural film & turns it into a gripping and classic movie.