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| RETURNING FRIDAY & Saturday, February 22 & 23, 2008 |
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(1973) “Who can trust a cop that don’t
take money?”
As detectives close in on a drug bust, one gets hung out to
dry by his partners — then we find out why. Al Pacino,
volcanic as hirsute real-life cop Frank Serpico, flashes back
from his beginnings as a naive, idealistic police recruit to
the bearded, undercover hippie detective whose
unwillingness to be on the take and willingness to testify for
the head-rolling Knapp Commission made him an alienated,
justifiably paranoid freak — and target — among his fellow
officers. The electrifying first film of Lumet’s memorable
— if unplanned — cops & crime trilogy (followed by
Dog Day Afternoon and Prince of the City) is a Balzac-like
portrayal of New York’s underside — the realism
extending to the American screen’s first avalanche of
profanity, but with an actor and director who can catch the
rhythm and get it exactly right (“Never has a cast wrung so
many meanings out of one four-letter word, and I don’t
mean love.” – Pauline Kael). Filming on 107 different
locations around the city, with over 100 speaking parts,
Lumet finished shooting in 51 days — 4
ahead of schedule — powerfully
delivering his first butt-kicking action
picture, with Pacino’s blowtorch
performance vaulting him to the front
rank of American actors. Screenplay
by Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler
(“He writes virulent lowlife dialogue
with a demented lilt.” – Kael),
based on the book by Peter Maas. Links:
Available at Amazon:  Serpico by Peter Maas |
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