video review : Carlito’s Way

video review : Carlito's Way

This is the tale of a lifelong gangster trying to go straight. Released early from a 30-year prison sentence on a technicality, former drug lord Carlito Brigante returns to the free world a new man. The plan, his dream, is to take part in a legit car rental business with a friend, but of course life doesn’t always go according to plan.

Some of the characterization goes overboard; David Kleinfeld, Brigante’s best friend and lawyer, is particularly caricatural; but the plot is generally riveting. Even the sappy romantic subplot is handled with care. The one major flaw, in fact, is that the movie commits the crime of telling you how the story will end before it begins.

my rating : 4 of 5

1993
 

Lucky Luciano :

The way it shows the ending first is not uncommon in gangster movies, but in this case it doesn’t seem to do anything but leave a feeling of doom and tradgedy throughout the film. Which is fine, but it probably would have been more effective if that tradgedy came unexpected. Also, the overbearing love story sometimes gets in the way. Despite these shortcomings, it’s still a movie worth recommending for the performances and storytelling. If you want a film about a reformed man who can’t escape his past, this is it.

4/5

video review : Carrie

video review : Carrie

Naked high school girls showering after a sweaty game of volleyball grabs your attention in the first few minutes. “Creepy” Carrie is far from the sexiest among them, but she is cute in an unobtrusive way. The fact that she’s constantly mistreated by almost everyone around her, including her manic Mama, makes you root for her. It’s when she’s invited to the prom by Tommy Ross, one of the cutest coolest boys in the school, which she relunctantly accepts, that things start to go really bad for her.

It’s a sad story but never to the point of maudlinism, even when Carrie’s sadness forces her to tears. That’s because she possesses a power that more than makes up for her social inadequacies. She can move and physically affect things with her mind; she can close windows and break mirrors; if she concentrates hard enough. It’s what known as telekinesis, a phenomenon she herself doesn’t fully understand. All she knows is that it tends to happen, rather inadvertently, when people make her mad.

The final fifteen minutes or so before the ending credits, especially the view-violating epilogue that makes up the final three minutes, are unnecessary. From both a narrative and an artistic point of view, the movie should end just after the prom, which is the obvious climax in the world of a high school student who cares about nothing more than fitting in with the popular crowd. With that said, the ending excess isn’t enough to ruin what remains an endearing story about a very special girl.

my rating : 4 of 5

1976