SCARFACE

Not so much a remake as a reinvention of Howard Hawks' 1932 classic, Brian De Palma's SCARFACE gave Al Pacino one of his greatest roles as Tony Montana, the Cuban immigrant who comes to Miami and embraces capitalism in the only way he knows how. Violent, excessive and almost 3 hours long, De Palma's movie is something of classic itself and Pacino's admittedly wildly over-the-top performance is nevertheless hugely enjoyable. He is also the only one to get his name above the credits but a supporting cast that includes Michelle Pfeiffer, (the gangster's moll he takes for himself), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, (the sister for whom he harbours almost incestuous feelings), Steven Bauer, (his partner in crime) and Robert Loggia, F Murray Abraham and Harris Yullin as sundry bad guys, are all excellent. The first rate script is by Oliver Stone and visually the film often resembles something Stone might have directed rather than De Palma.