I’m not sure that I’ve ever watched Serpico all the way through until now. I saw bits and pieces of it
when I was a kid, I got the gist, but this is the first time I’ve sat down and
just watched it. Over the past ten years or so the closest I’ve gotten was Max Fischer’s
stage adaptations. I was fully expecting it to be an acting showcase for Al
Pacino, and that’s certainly what it is, but there are also tons of awesome
character actors that show up and color the film with authenticity. M. Emmet
Walsh, F. Murray Abraham; this is a virtual who’s who of legendary “that guy”
actors with letters for first names. When you marry that with the 70s era New
York setting, you get a film that is just teeming with grit. The cars are
rusty, the curbs are crumbling, and everyone we meet is dirty, on the take, or simply
a criminal. Structurally and in it’s writing, Serpico isn’t in any way different from every other dirty cop movie
out there, but in crafting and cast it manages to set itself apart and be
something worth remembering. I don’t rate it among Sidney Lumet’s best, but it’s
really good for a cop movie. Put a dime in the meter for Officer Serpico.
