Barnes & Noble

A big popcorn movie with a Puerto Rican accent, Carlito's Way has plenty of sex, drugs, and Latin rhythms. Carlito (Al Pacino), a legendary Puerto Rican drug lord in New York City, lands back on the mean streets after a prison term and tries to go straight. The always-bigger-than-life Pacino, on familiar ground as a big-league criminal with a good heart, is intense and melancholy, longing to escape his past with his stripper girlfriend (Penelope Ann Miller). Director Brian De Palma, who teamed with Pacino for a more outlandish look at a life of crime in the gangsta' classic Scarface, delivers his trademark meticulously choreographed action and suspense sequences, along with some violent thrills. But Sean Penn is the real gem here. His performance as Carlito's coked-up and corrupt lawyer, complete with a bald spot on the top of his curly head, must be seen to be believed. Gregory Baird

All Movie Guide

Carlito's Way is a tale of a former hood trying to escape his former life. Al Pacino is Carlito Brigante, a high-level Puerto Rican drug dealer sprung from a three-decade jail sentence after only five years, thanks to a technicality and his sleazy, cocaine-addled lawyer, Dave Kleinfeld (Sean Penn). Carlito renounces his previous ways and takes a job as the manager of a club that Kleinfeld has invested in, planning to save enough money so that he can eventually move to the Caribbean. But no sooner is Carlito back on the streets of New York than his old life claws at him in the form of both old partners (Luis Guzman) and vicious up-and-comers (John Leguizamo). Nevertheless, Carlito stays clean and even restarts his relationship with a dancer named Gail (Penelope Ann Miller), until he is finally led astray by Kleinfeld, who manipulates Carlito into participating in the murder of a Mafia don from whom Kleinfeld has stolen a million dollars. At that point, the race is on to see whether Carlito and Gail can escape his world for good. The film is based on two novels about Carlito written by New York State judge Edwin Torres. Don Kaye

Product Details

• UPC: 025192026584
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Carlito's Way: Crime Saga Collection
• Gangster: the Ultimate Film Collection
• Legendary Gangsters 5-Movie Collection

Features: