Stars: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, Tony Roberts, Cornelia Sharpe, John Medici, Barbara Eda-Young

Director: Sidney Lumet

Summary: Tense story based on the true-life experiences of an undercover New York cop who is ostracized by fellow officers and police officials for exposing corruption within the police department.

Shot on location on New York's energetic and crime-filled streets, Sidney Lumet's SERPICO, based on Peter Maas's book, is a rousing portrait of courage in the face of insidious corruption, initiating a motif that Lumet would continue to mine in PRINCE OF THE CITY. Al Pacino is forcefully real as Frank Serpico, an independent young recruit entering the police force in the late 1960s, fulfilling a childhood dream. The good old boys of the NYPD lose no time in initiating the unorthodox Serpico in the ways of cutting corners, forging documents, and, most important, taking payoffs from local gambling operations and narcotic rings. His refusal to take his share of illegal protection money combined with his counterculture lifestyle make Serpico a target for harassment by his unified and powerful peers. Lumet hones in on the evocative details of Serpico's personal struggles and inner turmoil as his obsessive fight for truth begins to have disastrous effects on his personal life and threaten his safety. Serpico goes to the commissioner for help but to no avail, eventually taking his story to the New York Times, shattering the police department and putting himself in danger of violent retribution, leading to an inevitably violent and harrowing climax.

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Based on a memoir by former undercover cop Joe Pistone (whose daring and unprecedented infiltration of the New York Mob scene earned him a place in the federal witness protection program), Donnie Brascois like a de-romanticised, de-mythologised version of The Godfather. It offers an uncommonly detailed, privileged glimpse inside the world of organised crime from the perspective of the little guys at the bottom of Mafia hierarchy rather than from the kingpins at the top. Donnie Brascois not only one of the great modern-day gangster movies to put in the company of The Godfatherfilms and GoodFellas, but it is also one of the great undercover police movies--arguably surpassing Serpicoand Prince of the Cityin richness of character, detail and moral complexity. Donnie (Johnny Depp, a splendid actor) is practically adopted by Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), a gregarious, low-level "made" man who grows to love his young protégé like a son. (Pacino really sinks into this guy's skin and polyester slacks and creates his freshest, most fully realised character since his 1970s heyday.) As Donnie acclimates himself to Lefty's world, he distances himself from his wife (a terrific Anne Heche) and family for their own protection. Almost imperceptibly his sense of identity slips away from him. Questioning his own confused loyalties, unable to trust anybody else because he himself is an imposter, Donnie loses his way in a murky and treacherous no-man's land. The film is directed by Mike Newell, who also headed up Four Weddings and a Funeraland the gritty, true crime melodrama Dance with a Stranger. --Jim Emerson

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer, Featurettes - 1. SERPICO: FROM REEL TO REEL, 2. INSIDE SERPICO, 3. FAVOURITE MOMENTS, Stills Gallery
Year:	1973
Release Date:	December 23, 2002
Runtime:	125 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	P H E 8183
Keywords:	English, General, Serpico, Thriller
Genre:	Thriller