Carlito's Way
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Brian de Palma
Produced by	Martin Bregman Michael Scott Bregman Willi Bär
Written by	Novels: Edwin Torres Screenplay: David Koepp
Starring	Al Pacino Sean Penn Penelope Ann Miller Luis Guzmán Joseph Siravo John Leguizamo
Music by	Patrick Doyle
Cinematography	Stephen H. Burum
Editing by	Kristina Boden Bill Pankow
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	November 10, 1993
Running time	144 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30,000,000
Gross revenue	$76,948,322 (USA)
Followed by	Carlito's Way: Rise to Power

Carlito's Way is a 1993 crime film based on the novel After Hours^[1] by Judge Edwin Torres. The film adaptation was scripted by David Koepp and directed by Brian De Palma. It stars Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, Luis Guzman, John Leguizamo, Jorge Porcel, Joseph Siravo and Viggo Mortensen. The film's featured song, "You Are So Beautiful", was performed by Joe Cocker.

The film is based on After Hours, but used the title of the first novel to avoid it being confused with Martin Scorsese's 1985 film of the same name, and focuses on Carlito's activities once he is released from prison. Carlito Brigante, a fictional Puerto Rican criminal vows to go straight and to live life as a law-abiding citizen. However, his past will not let him, and he unwittingly ends up being dragged into the same criminal activities that got him imprisoned in the first place.

Carlito's Way received a mixed response from critics, with a similar lukewarm result at the box office, but has subsequently gained a cult following. Both Sean Penn and Penelope Ann Miller received Golden Globe nominations for their performances.This was when Pacino and Miller experienced their first offscreen romance as well. A prequel titled Carlito's Way: Rise to Power, based on the first novel, was filmed and released direct-to-video in 2005.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Cast 4 Reception 4.1 Cultural influence 5 Music 5.1 Score 5.2 Soundtrack 6 Releases 7 Prequel 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Plot

The story takes place in 1975 when Carlito "Charlie" Brigante is released from prison with the help of his close friend and lawyer, Dave Kleinfeld. Carlito makes a surprising announcement: he intends to go straight.

Carlito visits his old neighborhood and is disturbed by how much has changed during his years in jail and how few people he knows. He runs into Pachanga, a fellow gangster, who lists their friends who have either died or been sent to prison.

Carlito, reluctantly, accompanies his young cousin Guajiro to a big drug deal. The gang has already killed Guajiro's boss and betrays and kills him as well. Carlito ends up having to shoot his way out.

Once the dust settles, he takes the money from the deal and buys into a nightclub owned by a gambling addict named Saso. Now running a club, he begins to save every penny possible. He brings in his friend Pachanga as his right-hand man. He also encounters Benny Blanco, a young gangster from the Bronx who considers Carlito an inspiration and a possible business partner.

Carlito looks up Gail, a former girlfriend whose dream was to be a dancer, and they meet with some awkwardness. Lalin, a former friend, arrives in the club wearing a "wire" in an attempt to get evidence against Carlito. This is dealt with quickly, after which Carlito follows up on a comment made by Lalin about having seen Gail dance in a stage show. He finds Gail on a stage, pole-dancing in a strip show.

Kleinfeld, now taking cocaine and drinking extensively, goes to a prison to meet with a mob-boss client, Anthony "Tony T" Taglialucci. He believes that Kleinfeld stole a million dollars that was supposed to be used for a payoff. He gives Kleinfeld an ultimatum: help him break out of prison or have the mob hit put on him.

Blanco grows frustrated with Carlito's rejection of him. Events escalate when Kleinfeld develops a love interest with Blanco's girl, Steffie. An angry Carlito tells Benny what he thinks of him. Benny begins to manhandle Steffie, which spurs Kleinfeld to point a gun in Benny's face.

Carlito is forced to take action. Benny is evicted from the club and beaten by Pachanga and others. Pachanga feels that Carlito should kill Benny on the spot, but Carlito has rejected the violence of his youth. Pachanga, who already feels unappreciated, begins to have doubts about Carlito.

Kleinfeld begs for Carlito's help with Tony T's prison escape. But on a boat, the increasingly erratic Kleinfeld kills both Tony T. and the mobster's son. Carlito realizes the severity of the transgression and decides that the only thing to do is to leave town with Gail, moving to the Bahamas and a new, law-abiding life.

Carlito is taken into district attorney Norwalk's office, where he hears a tape of Kleinfeld telling lies about Carlito and even offering to testify against him. They know that Kleinfeld and Carlito had to be involved in the incident with Tony T., but Carlito refuses to be a snitch.

There is an attack on Kleinfeld, who is seriously wounded. Carlito goes to the hospital to learn the truth from Kleinfeld's own lips. On the way he notices a suspicious man dressed as a police officer. Kleinfeld admits to selling out Carlito because a man needs to look out first and foremost for himself.

While pretending to help Kleinfeld with a gun hidden under a pillow, Carlito deftly unloads it and leaves. The police officer turns out to be Tony T.'s other son, Vincent "Vinnie" Taglialucci, who has come to finish off Kleinfeld. The empty chamber of Kleinfeld's gun only clicks. Carlito is seen outside throwing the bullets into a bin, as Kleinfeld is fatally shot in the head.

Carlito buys train tickets to Miami for himself and Gail, who is pregnant. He returns to the club intent on getting his money and getting out. Once there, however, he is greeted by a group of Italian gangsters led by Vinnie Taglialucci, who spotted Carlito earlier in the hospital. The Italians know that he is involved, but before they have a chance to do anything, Carlito manages to slip out through a back way.

A wild chase ensues where the Italians pursue him throughout the city's subway system and into Grand Central Station, where the train Carlito and Gail will be taking is about to leave. Carlito nearly manages to give them the slip, but is spotted and drawn into a wild gunfight where he manages to kill off all of his pursuers except Vinnie, who is shot by police.

Carlito runs for the train. Gail is there with Pachanga, excitedly waiting for him. However, he is ambushed by someone he did not expect: Benny Blanco, who shoots Carlito in the abdomen with a silenced gun. Pachanga admits that he is now working with Blanco. He has set up Carlito in order to look out for his own future -- only now Pechanga is also shot by Benny, who runs off.

A gravely injured Carlito hands Gail the money and tells her to escape with their unborn child and start a new life elsewhere. The film ends with Carlito being wheeled away on a gurney as he stares at a billboard with a Caribbean beach and a picture of a woman. The billboard then comes to life in his mind and the woman, who is clearly Gail, starts dancing as Carlito slowly closes his eyes.

[edit] Production

Pacino first heard about Carlito Brigante in a YMCA gym in New York in 1973. Pacino was working out for his movie Serpico when he met Supreme Court Judge Edwin Torres (the author who was writing the novels Carlito's Way and After Hours). When the novels were completed Al read them and liked them, especially the character of Carlito.^[2] Inspiration for the novels came from Torres' background, things that were most familiar to him: the East Harlem barrio where he was born and raised in an atmosphere of racial gangs, drugs and poverty.^[3] In 1989, Pacino faced a $6 million lawsuit from producer Elliott Kastner. Kastner claimed Pacino had gone back on an agreement to star in his version of a Carlito movie with Marlon Brando as criminal lawyer David Kleinfeld. The suit was dropped and the project was abandoned.^[2]

Pacino went to producer Martin Bregman with the intention of getting a Carlito film made.^[4] First thing on the list was to get a script written that would portray Carlito Brigante's world and provide a suitable showcase for Pacino's talents.^[4] David Koepp had just finished writing the script for Bregman's forthcoming The Shadow when producer Michael S. Bregman suggested him to write the script for Carlito's Way.^[5] The decision came that the screenplay would be based on the second novel After Hours. Carlito at this stage would match closer with Pacino's age.^[6] Although based on the second novel, the title Carlito's Way remained,^[6] mainly because of the existence of Martin Scorsese's movie After Hours.^[5] Bregman would work closely with Koepp for two years to develop the shooting script for Carlito's Way.^[5]

Koepp wrestled with the voice-over throughout the writing process. Initially the voice-over was to take place in the hospital, but De Palma suggested the train station platform.^[7] The hospital scenes were written 25 to 30 times because the actors had trouble with the sequence, with Pacino even thinking that Carlito would not go to the hospital. With one final re-write Koepp managed to make the scene work to Pacino's satisfaction.^[7] In the novels Kleinfeld does not die, but De Palma has a huge sense of justice and retribution. He could not have Carlito killed off and have Kleinfeld live.^[7]

At one point, The Long Good Friday director, John Mackenzie, was linked with the film. When Carlito's Way and its sequel After Hours were optioned, Martin Bregman had Abel Ferrara in mind. However, when Bregman and Ferrara parted ways, De Palma was brought in. Bregman explained that this decision was not about "getting the old team back together", rather than making use of the best talent available.^[2] De Palma, reluctantly, read the script and as soon as Spanish-speaking characters cropped up he feared it would be Scarface all over again.^[8] He said that he did not want to make another Spanish-speaking gangster movie.^[2] When De Palma finally did read it all the way through, he realized it was not what he thought it was. De Palma liked the script and envisioned it as a noir movie.^[5] Bregman supervised casting throughout the various stages of pre-production, and carefully selected the creative team who would make the film a reality. This included production designer Richard Sylbert, editor Bill Pankow, costume designer Aude Bronson-Howard and director of photography Stephen Burum.^[9]

Initially, filming began on March 22, 1993, though the first scheduled shoot, the Grand Central Station climax, had to be changed when Pacino showed up on crutches. Instead, the tension-building pool hall sequence, where Pacino accompanies his young cousin Guajiro on an ill-fated drug deal, started the production.^[10] Because the film was heavily character based and featured little action, the early pool sequence had to be elaborate and set up right. A huge amount of time was spent setting it up and filming it.^[8] After the film studio had viewed a cut of the pool hall sequence, a note was passed onto the crew stating that they felt the scene was too long. De Palma spent more time adding to the sequence and with the help of editor Bill Pankow made it work. The producers came back saying "much better shorter."^[7]

Apart from the poster sequence, which was shot in Florida, the entire movie was filmed on location in New York. De Palma roamed Manhattan searching for suitable visual locations. A tenement on 115th Street became the site of Carlito's homecoming: the barrio scene. The courtroom, in which Carlito thanks the prosecutor, was shot in Judge Torres's workplace, the State Supreme Court Building at 60 Centre Street.^[10] The Club Paradise was initially in a West Side brownstone as the model for the book's postprandial premises. But this was considered too cramped for filming. A multi-level bistro club designed by De Palma took shape at the Kaufman-Astoria Studios in Long Island City, in a style of 1970's art deco disco.^[11]

Tony Taglialucci's escape from Rikers Island, a night shoot mid-river was considered impossible. Instead, the production used a Brooklyn shipyard where Kleinfeld's boat was lowered into an empty "lock" into which river water was pumped. Smoke machines and towers of space lights were installed. To achieve the rough and choppy nature of the East River a WOW Wave Ball (a sophisticated Belgian device which churns up controlled waves) was used.^[12] The ZOW Wave Sphere from Portugal was originally considered, as it is a far more sophisticated device and can shape waves based on the target water temperature, salinity and ocean floor depth. However, the CEO of ZOW Waves, Fernando Trerrero, was indicted on (what some considered trumped-up) conspiracy charges just before principal shooting of the Rikers Island escape scene was to begin, and as such the ZOW Sphere was unable to be delivered on time. Belgian's WOW team was ready to take over, and eventually became the de facto wave generating spherical device supplier to the film industry.^[11]

For a climactic finale, De Palma staged a chase from the platform of the Harlem-125th Street (Metro-North) Station to the escalators of Grand Central Terminal. For the shoot, trains were re-routed and timed so that Pacino and his pursuers could dart from car to hurtling car.^[11] The length of the escalator scene during the climactic shoot out at Grand Central Station caused a headache for editor Pankow. He had to piece together the sequences so that the audience would be so tied up in the action that they would not be thinking about how long the escalator was running.^[13]

[edit] Cast

• Al Pacino as Carlito Brigante. Pacino came to Carlito's Way directly from his Oscar-winning role in Scent of a Woman.^[5] To get into the character, he accompanied Torres through East Harlem. There he could absorb the sights and atmosphere.^[6] Pacino first envisioned Carlito with a ponytail. But after his visits to Harlem he quickly realized the guys there were not into wearing their hair that way. The beard was Pacino's idea. The black leather coat just fit into the period setting.^[2]
• Sean Penn as David Kleinfeld. For the pivotal role of Carlito's sleazy lawyer and best friend, Penn was lured back from early retirement by the challenge of playing the corrupt lawyer. Taking the role meant that he could finance his movie The Crossing Guard and work with Pacino.^[10] De Palma and Penn sat down and discussed what '70s mob lawyers looked like. Often, men in the entertainment business can look more bizarre than the talent they represent.^[10] Penn shaved the hair on the front of his forehead to give the appearance of a receding hairline. He permed the rest.^[8] Alan Dershowitz, believing that Penn was attempting to look like him, threatened the filmmakers with a defamation lawsuit.^[14]
• Penelope Ann Miller as Gail. Carlito's girlfriend and one of the few people he truly trusts, she is the only person who has ever seen Carlito's goodness. She is a dancer dreaming of the big time, but is reduced to working in a strip club to make ends meet. Although the story is a suspenseful crime thriller, their doomed romance is at the heart of the film. At the time, Miller was 29 years old to Pacino's 53. Casting for Gail proved difficult because of the character's striptease scenes. The character needed someone who was both a talented dancer and actor.^[8]
• John Leguizamo as Benny Blanco. Leguizamo completed the main cast as "Benny Blanco from the Bronx", an up-and-coming gangster who is determined to exceed Carlito's reputation but lacks any sense of ethics.^[15]
• Luis Guzmán as Pachanga. One of the few remaining old time friends of Carlito, he works as his right-hand man at the Club Paradise. He would eventually betray Carlito to work with Blanco. After Carlito escapes and kills the mobsters, Pachanga and Carlito run to Gail and the train, where Blanco shoots both Carlito and Pachanga. In Koepp's first draft of the screenplay, Pachanga spoke in a very heavy slang style. Following rumbles from the Latino cast and crew, Koepp toned this down.^[7]
• Jorge Porcel as Saso. Saso, or "Ron" as he likes to be called, was the owner of Club Paradise before Kleinfeld asked Carlito to take charge.
• Ingrid Rogers as Steffie. Rogers makes her feature debut as Steffie who works in the Club Paradise. She was initially Benny Blanco's girlfriend before she set her sights on David Kleinfeld and his riches.
• James Rebhorn as Norwalk. Norwalk is the District Attorney involved with Carlito's conviction case. He tries, unsuccessfully, to get Carlito's help to convict Kleinfeld.
• Joseph Siravo as Vincent "Vinnie" Taglialucci. The elder son of Tony T and older brother of Frankie, he is out to avenge his father's and brother's deaths. Vinnie disguises himself as a police officer and kills Kleinfled. He and other Italian gangsters chase Carlito on the subway and into the train station. Carlito kills all except for Vinnie on the escalator. A wounded Vinnie staggers after Carlito but the police finish Vinnie off.
• Frank Minucci as Tony Taglialucci. A mob boss known as Tony T, he is the father of Vinnie and Frankie. He is sprung from prison with the help of his son Frankie, plus Kleinfeld and the reluctant Carlito. Just as he is rescued from a buoy, Kleinfeld kills him.
• Adrian Pasdar as Frankie Taglialucci. The youngest son of Tony T and younger brother of Vinnie. He accompanies Kleinfeld and Carlito on the fateful boat trip. When his back is turned while steering, Kleinfeld kills him with a crowbar, then dumps his body overboard.
• Richard Foronjy as Pete Amadesso. An old acquaintance of Carlito and a business associate of Tony T and Vincent. He is among those who chase Carlito to Grand Central. Pete is shot by Carlito on the escalator.
• Viggo Mortensen as Lalin. Once a handsome, suave gangster friend of Carlito's, he is now in a wheelchair and has been in prison. He arrives at Carlito's club wearing a hidden wire. It turns out he was released by Norwalk so he could spy on Carlito.
• John Augstin Ortiz as Guajiro. Carlito's young cousin, he convinces Carlito to make a stop at a pool hall as his backup during a drug deal. The deal goes wrong and he loses his life.

[edit] Reception

Carlito's Way wrapped on July 20, 1993, and was released on 3 November 1993.^[16] Critical response to the theatrical release was somewhat lukewarm. The film was criticized for re-treading old ground,^[17] mainly De Palma's own Scarface and The Untouchables.^[18][19] Roger Ebert stated in his review that the film is one of De Palma's finest with some of the best set-pieces he has done.^[19] Patrick Doyle was praised on his scoring of the film soundtrack, which was described as "elegiac" and "hauntingly beautiful," which "displays Doyle as one of the major talents of modern film scoring."^[20] Peter Travers (of Rolling Stone) criticised the film for Pacino's "Rican" accent slipping into his "Southern drawl from Scent of a Woman", "De Palma's erratic pacing and derivative shootouts" and "what might have been if Carlito's Way had forged new ground and not gone down smokin' in the shadow of Scarface."^[21]

On the Siskel & Ebert show, Ebert gave the film a thumbs up while Siskel gave it a thumbs down.^[21] Owen Gleiberman (from Entertainment Weekly) described the film as "a competent and solidly unsurprising urban-underworld thriller" and is "okay entertainment," but went on to say that the plot would have worked better "as a lean and mean Miami Vice episode."^[22] The film currently has a fresh rating of 81% on the Rotten Tomatoes review site.^[23]

Bregman was surprised about some of the negative reviews, but stated that some of the same reviewers have since "retracted" their views upon further discussions of the film.^[4] A few weeks before the film's premiere, De Palma told the crew not to get their hopes up about the film's reception. He correctly predicted that Pacino, having just won an Oscar, would be criticized; Koepp, having just done Jurassic Park, would "suck"; Penn would be "brilliant" because he had not done anything for a while; and he himself, having not been forgiven for The Bonfire of the Vanities, would not quite be embraced.^[7]

Carlito's Way premiered with an opening weekend box office taking of over $9 million. At the end of its theatrical run, the film had grossed over $36 million domestically and $63 million worldwide.^[24] Sean Penn and Penelope Ann Miller both received Golden Globe nominations for their respective roles as Kleinfeld and Gail.^[25] The post cinematic appreciation of the film was later highlighted when the French publication Cahiers du Cinema named it as the Best film of the 1990s.^[17][26]

[edit] Cultural influence

Although the film was not considered a success with its initial theatrical run the film was popular on home video and gained a growing fan base.^[17] Carlito's Way's influence can be seen in many subsequent forms of media, be it music, television shows or video games. Ken Rosenberg of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and San Andreas video games was based on Sean Penn's portrayal of Kleinfeld. They are both Jewish, have a similar build, have the same clothing style and display similar traits of drug use and increasing paranoia.^[27] The character Benny Blanco is parodied in the MMORPG World of Warcraft with the Defias thug "Benny Blanco" in Westfall.^[28] A clip of Pacino (as Carlito) shouting "Here comes the pain!", from around 25 min, 52 sec into the movie, is used in the song (Sic) by Slipknot.^[29]

Carlito's opening monologue from the beginning of the film is used in Jay-Z's "Intro/A Million And One Questions/Rhyme No More" track off his sophomore album "In My Lifetime, Vol.1". Carlito's (Al Pacino) dialogue from the pool room sequence, "Okay I'm reloaded!", "Think you big-time?, You gonna die big time!" and "Here comes the pain!" are used in Jay-Z's "Brooklyn's Finest" track from his debut album "Reasonable Doubt"^[30], and the Farmer Boys' single Here Comes the Pain. Carlito's ending monologue is sampled on Ghostface Killa's album "Ironman", at the end of the song "The Soul Controller". A rendition of the same monologue is given on the intro to Jay-Z's "Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life". World Wrestling Entertainment used "Here Comes the Pain" as a catchphrase for Brock Lesnar. A WWE video game was released using the phrase on the PlayStation 2 system. Carlito's line "You think you're big time? You're gonna fucking die big time!" is used (albeit cleaned up) as a map on the Macintosh first person shooter Marathon Infinity. Three 6 Mafia used part of the movie dialouge as an intro to their song Mask And Da Glock. Brooklyn rapper Fabolous' 2009 album Loso's Way is inspired by this movie.

[edit] Music

Patrick Doyle composed the original score, while Musical supervisor Jellybean Benitez supplemented the soundtrack with elements of salsa, merengue and other authentic styles.^[9]

[edit] Score

Carlito's Way: Original Motion Picture Score
Soundtrack by Patrick Doyle
Released	1993
Genre	Soundtrack
Label	Varese Sarabande

No.	Title	Duration
1.	Carlito's Way	05:17
2.	Carlito And Gail	04:05
3.	The Cafe	01:59
4.	Laline	02:36
5.	You're Over, Man	02:09
6.	Where's My Cheesecake?	02:12
7.	The Buoy	04:04
8.	The Elevator	01:45
9.	There's An Angle Here	02:18
10.	Grand Central	10:08
11.	Remember Me	04:52

[edit] Soundtrack

Carlito's Way: Music From The Motion Picture
Soundtrack by Various Artists
Released	November 9, 1993
Genre	Soundtrack
Label	Sony

No.	Title	Artist
1.	I Love Music	The O'Jays
2.	Rock The Boat	The Hues Corporation
3.	That's The Way I Like It	KC And The Sunshine Band
4.	Rock Your Baby	Ed Terry
5.	Parece Mentira	Marc Anthony
6.	Backstabbers	O'Jays
7.	TSOP-The Sounds Of Philadelphia	MFSB
8.	Got To Be Real	Cheryl Lynn
9.	Lady Marmalade	LaBelle
10.	Pillow Talk	Sylvia
11.	El Watusi	Ray Barretto
12.	Oye Como Va	Santana
13.	You Are So Beautiful	Billy Preston

[edit] Releases

The film has been released on VHS and LaserDisc standard and widescreen versions.^[23] It was later released on DVD in 2004,^[31] with an Ultimate Edition following in 2005.^[32] The Ultimate Edition DVD includes deleted scenes, an interview with De Palma, a making-of documentary and more.^[33] In 2007 an HD DVD version was released, which features the same bonus material as the Ultimate Edition.^[34]

[edit] Prequel

Edwin Torres' first novel Carlito's Way was filmed and released direct-to-video in 2005, under the title Carlito's Way: Rise to Power. Although critically panned, Torres did give the film his blessing and considers it to be quite an accurate adaptation of the first half of his novel, with a planned sequel for the second half in the works.^[35] It stars Jay Hernandez as Carlito, with Mario Van Peebles, Michael Joseph Kelly, Luis Guzmán, Jaclyn DeSantis, Sean Combs, Burt Young, and Domenick Lombardozzi also appearing. The story is set in 1969, as three prisoners, Earl (Van Peebles), Rocco (Kelly) and Carlito (Hernandez), control their criminal empire within their cell. Upon their release, they soon take control of the drug trade in Spanish Harlem.^[36]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Universal Pictures, Carlito's Way "Press Pack", 1993.
• Highbury Entertainment, "The Making Of Carlito's Way", Hotdog Magazine, August 2000.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Carlito's Way

• Carlito's Way at the Internet Movie Database
• Carlito's Way at Allmovie
• The Making of 'Carlito's Way'
• Carlito's Way at Rotten Tomatoes
• A Revelation: Carlito's Way
• Roger Ebert on Carlito's Way

Specific key moments and themes relating to Carlito's Way.

v • d • e Films directed by Brian De Palma 1960s The Wedding Party (1963) • Murder a la Mod (1968) • Greetings (1968) 1970s Hi, Mom! (1970) • Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972) • Sisters (1973) • Phantom of the Paradise (1974) • Obsession (1976) • Carrie (1976) • The Fury (1978) • Home Movies (1979) 1980s Dressed to Kill (1980) • Blow Out (1981) • Scarface (1983) • Body Double (1984) • Wise Guys (1986) • The Untouchables (1987) • Casualties of War (1989) 1990s The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) • Raising Cain (1992) • Carlito's Way (1993) • Mission: Impossible (1996) • Snake Eyes (1998) 2000s Mission to Mars (2000) • Femme Fatale (2002) • The Black Dahlia (2006) • Redacted (2007)