[1973] Serpico

[Mave]

Serpico

Ratings and links

IMDB: 7.7/10
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070666//

Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (Critic Reviews): 93/100
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/serpico

Information and details

Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Runtime: 2h10m

Director: Sidney Lumet
Notable cast members: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe

Plot summary: An honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.


Trailer

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Warning! Proceed with caution. You WILL read spoilers below.

Only proceed if you've seen the movie.

 

[Mave]

My review

This movie is basically one gigantic character-study on Serpico.
About the plot: Serpico is pretty much the only non-corrupt cop in the police force, and the only one with the balls to blow the whistle and get 1/3rd of the police force fired... Now I only know this because I looked up the real life Serpico AFTER watching the movie. Because I didn't have this info pre-watch, I honestly thought the movie was a tad boring sometimes.
Don't get me wrong, this is prime Al Pacino, he carries the entire movie, but the movie aged badly (like most 70s movies do, felt the same about The French Connection, don't kill me).
I understand why it's viewed as a masterpiece in the cop-genre, yet it wasn't really my thing. Still a solid 7/10. I just won't re-watch this one. I'm also pretty sure that I would have rated and appreciated the movie more, if I had known the story beforehand.

7/10

Little sidenote: Pacino's wardrobe was at some times.. hilarious.