Serpico

Frank Serpico engages in a fight against windmills in the shape of police corruption. Lumet’s sure direction and the well-written screenplay form a firm foundation for the main asset that takes Serpico almost to the highest of heights. That asset is the one-man show delivered by the young Al Pacino. Of course, this is occasionally needlessly over the top, at the expense of the other interesting characters, motifs and storylines. As a movie - excellent, as a gala performance by Pacino - fascinating and, as a whole, rightly a police classic. (11/16/2007)

Serpico is a concept in and of itself and originally, I gave it four stars. But when I watched it again years later, I couldn't find a single reason to defend those stars. Al Pacino is decent, but he has acted much more prominently in many other films and here, he delivers only his usual average. The direction, in my opinion, is also average and the script doesn't contain anything groundbreaking either. So, what remains is the topic of corruption, but that is not a reason to rate it any higher. Overall impression: 60%. (06/03/2012)

A riveting picture with the wonderful Al Pacino as Frank Serpico, a cop who wasn’t afraid to stand up against his colleagues. Everybody made fun of him, despised him, threatened him and even wanted to kill him. He ruined his life fighting for good and what did he get in return? Nothing. Sidney Lumet really nails the corruption-ridden atmosphere of the movie, maintains suspense, keeping you right inside the story. I especially appreciate however honest Serpico is, he also has faults and certainly isn't perfect, but he’s a regular guy who wants to do the right thing. (11/18/2006)

An ode to the character of Al Pacino, and by extension, his captivating performance in the lead role. His cop portrays one of the most tenacious guardians of the law in the history of the silver screen, and it’s definitely worth watching. Unfortunately, major technical errors and deficiencies and the simplicity and straightforwardness of the screenplay bring down the film to an average level. The blatantly botched editing work in the faster-paced scenes, coupled with the insane artificial blood, will not exactly uplift the viewer. Nevertheless, it is difficult to be too angry at this legend. Al is a great likable character and practically carries the film all on his own. (06/08/2008)

First-class film. Even though it's a just a little weaker than Pacino and Lumet's other collaboration, Dog Day Afternoon, I have to give it five stars. For its authenticity. Sad. (08/20/2010)

I expected more from this. The premise of a man fighting on his own against pervasive police corruption is extremely interesting, but Sydney Lumet decided to execute it in a way that didn't appeal to me at all. Cinematically, I don't think there's much to fault, and I might even be able to forgive Serpico for completely sidelining suspense, action or investigative methods at the expense of Pacino's character, who barely leaves the screen and everything revolves around him. What I couldn't get over, however, was that a story that could have been easily compressed into 100 minutes was stretched to more than two hours. An even Pacino's excellent performance can't completely obscure the fact that I was very bored and that the psychological and moral face of the film didn't impress me nearly as much as it was probably intended to. (03/23/2012)

For me, this is an example of great filmmaking from both the director's perspective and the excellent acting demonstrated by Al Pacino, who is simply unbelievable in how he transforms from a relatively naive policeman into a person who cannot be easily broken and always pursues his goals. He has done an absolutely wonderful job here, and it is evident that this story was written by life itself because it is ugly and cruel. (09/12/2015)