Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Uriah43 Upon graduating from the local police academy, "Frank Serpico" (Al Pacino) joins the New York Police Department with high hopes and ideals. Being new to the department he is determined to follow the rules and play it by the book. However, he soon learns that there are a different set of rules his fellow officers follow which aren't taught in the classroom. Although he doesn't like what he sees he chooses to concentrate on his personal life and career. However, as time goes by he realizes that he cannot ignore it any longer and attempts to change things by taking his suspicions to his superiors. But when things don't turn out like he plans he decides to take a drastic step that has severe repercussions for everyone involved. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film contains a great deal of drama along with an outstanding performance by Al Pacino who was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award. Likewise, the fact that it was based on a true story makes it even more remarkable and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

generationofswine Lets be honest, a movie like this would have an insanely limited theatrical release and meet with negative reviews today. It has really gotten to that point.There is no action. The film is all about plot and characters and has a strong morality behind it. Modern viewers are going to find it boring.But, back in the day it was amazing.Back in the day movies like this could get made and people would spend money to actually see them. People would rave about them. Where the heck has society gone? Not only that but Pacino was allowed to act without given a screamed monologue...not that hearing Pacino scream and yell is a bad thing. I mean, I would feel disappointed if I paid to see one of his movies without it.But this is his early work, this was when he was developing himself as an actor and actually acting like different people, not just playing Al Pacino.So we get to see what Pacino could do before he was delegated to only play Pacino, which alone is a breath of fresh air.But we also get to see a problem with the police departments that we are still grappling with today, a problem that is even more in the headlines and one that wasn't solved despite Serpico's involvement.If nothing else it makes this film all the more illuminating.It's a movie frozen in time and, unfortunately, possibly doomed to be relevant far into the future.

jadavix "Serpico" is a fascinating character study and a masterful police/courtroom thriller in one movie. It features one of the all time great film performances from Al Pacino in the title role as a conflicted cop who just wants to do the right thing, and another excellent directorial turn from that unsung American master, Sidney Lumet.All Frank Serpico ever wanted to be was a cop. He is uncomfortable on the job from the start as his colleagues on the force cut corners and lie in their paper work about who caught who. An initial bust of three rapists ends in one of the perpetrators - the least criminal of the group - beaten savagely, but still unwilling to divulge the names of his accomplices. Serpico convinces the young black man to change his mind through diplomacy rather than violence.Smart police-work like this puts Serpico on the fast track to detective work, but he finds that the higher he climbs the promotion ladder, the more often he is expected to turn a blind eye to blatant police corruption, including superiors rubbing shoulders with mobsters, and criminals who don't even try to hide their bribery attempts, so assured are they of immunity from the palms they've greased.Serpico's climax, after so much tension is felt by the viewer through Al Pacino's characterisation, his voice, his eyes, his face, his body language, is shockingly violent and heartbreaking, but it's the solemnly life affirming conclusion I will remember.

Tss5078 More than forty years after it was made, the name Serpico is still synonymous with heroism. The multiple award winner features arguably one of the most successful actors and directors to ever grace the silver screen, but was Frank Serpico really a hero? Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) wanted nothing more than to be a police officer in New York, but once he gets there, he finds that things aren't as he'd hoped. The department is full of corrupt cops, but Serpico wants no part of it. He has no intention of turning them in, but when he won't take the money, everyone just assumes he already did, making Frank a target that has to act in order to save his own life. At first this film seems like just another police tale, that's been blown way out of portion by Hollywood, so why is it considered one of the top 100 films ever made? The combination of Al Pacino's infectious personality and Sidney Lumet's methodical and innovative story telling. At the time Serpico was made, Al Pacino was the brightest star in Hollywood and for good reason, he just has a way of getting people behind whatever character and project he's associated with. As for Lumet, he is known as an innovative director for simply trying things that everyone had available to them. Lumet uses different angles and close ups to make things more intense and exciting, as well as methodically going deeper into the story. It's this combination that made Serpico much more than simply another cop movie and a film that should be seen by all movie lovers.