On Barbra Walter’s interview with Al Pacino several years ago she said that this was Pacino’s favorite role. But this film stands on its own despite this proclamation. This is an underworld’s rags to riches story with one of the greatest endings to a film ever!
Pacino plays a Cuban refugee thug , Tony Montana , who claws and scracthes(taking some lives along the way) to the top of the cocaine world in Miami with the help of his right hand man Manny Ray(Steven Bauer).
Pacino plays this part with such passion and energy that he absolutely fuels this film from beginning to end. You can’t take your eyes off the man. He adds humanistic dimensions to Tony Montana. He shows Montana’s humor , machismo , intelligence , leadership , guts , and flaws. He even shows Montana’s tender side(the scene with Michelle Pfeiffer at poolside). Pacino actually gets you to like a character who is basically a sleazeball. Now that is acting!
There are memorable moments throughout this film and some are very graphic but what is probably the highlight moment of this film is the great shoot ‘em up scene at the end ; Sosa’s hitmen infiltrating Montana’s estate to kill him because Montana botched a major hit for Sosa. When Montana , full of cocaine , finally refocus his attention to the hitmen he fights back in complete defiance to them with a machine gun/grenade launcher. “Say hello to my little friend!” is now one of those famous movie lines of film history. He blast them away like dominoes , withstanding the awesome gunfire because of the cocaine in his system. This is a real “guy’s” scene. It’s action fueled by high octane adrenaline and Pacino plays it beyond belief. His performance is so elating that you want to grab a machine gun and fight along side him. Pacino IS Scarface!
Cast
- Al Pacino as Tony Montana
- Steven Bauer as Manny Ribera (Credits list as “Manny Ray”)
- Michelle Pfeiffer as Elvira Hancock
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Gina Montana
- Robert Loggia as Frank Lopez
- F. Murray Abraham as Omar Suárez
- Harris Yulin as Mel Bernstein
- Paul Shenar as Alejandro Sosa
- Ángel Salazar as Chi Chi
- Pepe Serna as Angel Fernandez
- Míriam Colón as Georgina “Mama” Montana
- Al Israel as Hector “The Toad”
Tags: Scarface