Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (May 9, 2022)
With 1973’s Serpico, we find another well-known flick that I never saw until it hit DVD. I knew of it as a cop drama that featured an early, well-regarded performance from Al Pacino, but other than some brief references offered by Brad Pitt’s character in Se7en, most of Serpico remained a mystery to me.
Actually, despite my lack of real knowledge about it, I had some expectations for Serpico. I figured it would offer a gritty police story, and that was what it provided.
Serpico starts with its end, as someone shoots Frank Serpico (Pacino) and he gets rushed to the hospital. While that occurs, we flash back to earlier parts of his career.
These take us to the beginning, so we watch Serpico’s orientation as a rookie cop. Serpico quickly learns of the corruption that pervades police life, as he sees minor elements – such as a free food kickback at a local restaurant – and more troubling issues like the beating of suspects.
We rapidly observe that Serpico won’t go down that path. He treats accused criminals humanely, and he refuses to go on the take when the other cops divvy up their bribes and kickbacks.
Serpico’s honesty doesn’t endear him to the other officers, who view this straight arrow suspiciously at best. We watch as Serpico’s battle against corruption affects his progress through the ranks and also leads to the downfall of his personal relationships.
All at once, Serpico seems both dated and timeless. On one hand, the movie’s fashions clearly place it in the early Seventies, especially in regard to the styles donned by Frank himself. An oddball cop, Serpico affects a look that will allow him to fit in with street criminals, and that presentation hasn’t exactly aged well.
In addition, Serpico feels very much like a piece from its era. The US really started to become cynical at that time due to the effects of the war in Vietnam and the then-developing scandal that surrounded Watergate, and Serpico reflects that burgeoning bitterness.
Sixties counter-cultural efforts tended to take a more general stance against “The Man”, as represented in hippie-oriented flicks like Easy Rider and Harold and Maude.
In the Seventies, the focus became more pointed. Later efforts like All the President’s Men and Network would become even more contemptuous, but Serpico clearly reflects the time in which it was made.
Not that I regard either of these as weaknesses. As for the dated fashions, if I criticized every movie for that concern, I wouldn’t like many films.
The worst offenders are those that really seem to flaunt their period affectations. For example, 1983’s Staying Alive appears absurdly bound to its era and can’t be viewed outside of that realm. Sure, the clothes and styles seen in Serpico look silly at times, but they don’t negatively affect the film.
As for the movie’s cynicism, it should wear that as a badge of honor, for it produces that attitude honestly. Whereas something like Harold and Maude seems to take potshots at authorities in a gratuitous manner, Serpico comes from factual material and provides a real exposé of police corruption.
Nearly 50 years after the fact, I can’t say this seems shocking – we’ve seen too many films that followed similar territory since 1973 – but the still timely topics remain eye-opening.
It helps that director Sidney Lumet treats the subject without much sentimentality. More so than probably any other era, the best films of the Seventies adopted a nearly documentary-style tone that lent their drama more of an impact.
Serpico follows in that mold. Though Lumet clearly wants us to empathize with Frank, he doesn’t force our emotions as he depicts the actions in a clear and even-headed manner.
Back before he became a professional ham and shouter, Pacino could really act, and he follows his terrific work in The Godfather with this star-establishing part. Frankly, I think his performance as Michael Corleone seems stronger, mainly because Michael offers a more complex part.
Though both Lumet and Pacino avoid making him excessively heroic, Serpico does present a character we see as consistently positive, so he lacks a tremendous amount of nuance. His poor relationships with women hint at a lack of internal balance, but he remains a somewhat one-note personality much of the time.
Nonetheless, Pacino brings serious spark to the role, and hhe seems to channel Dustin Hoffman to some degree. I won’t say that Pacino took from Hoffman for the part, but at times, the similarities seem strong.
However, I can’t imagine the less street-legit Hoffman as Serpico, so while Pacino’s performance shows some Dustinisms, it doesn’t come across like an impersonation. Pacino makes the character fully his and really shines.
Serpico easily could have turned into a one-note film about a heroic cop, but it never degenerates into such simplicity. Instead, the movie provides a rich and compelling affair.
It avoids simplistic patterns and fails to become the flat and sentimental affair that could have occurred. A fine police drama, Serpico continues to work well after almost 50 years.
