Movie Plot – Scarface: Tony Montana is a Cuban immigrant who takes an interest in taking over a drug cartel. He’s obsessed with greed and his own determination.

Director: Brian De Palma
Writer: Oliver Stone
Cast: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Al Pacino as Scarface

We all know Al Pacino to play in mafia movies, and Scarface is one of his most famous ones. Like many, I think he’s excellent in those kind of movies. He’s just made for it.

You shouldn’t compare this movie to the Godfather. In my opinion, the Godfather really is a masterpiece of his cinematography. Scarface is also a masterpiece in his own way, but I still consider the Godfather to be number one.

What’s great is that we see the evolution of Tony Montana. We see how he goes from nothingness to empire. Also that he had balls of steel, and he’s full-on Al Pacino with a Cuban accent. From time to time, this really comes across as over the top, but this actually makes the movie better.

The people around Scarface

You obviously have other characters like Manny Ribera, Elvira, and Gina. Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer) has been with Tony Montana from the beginning, and you can consider him as his best man. He is the chilly cool guest of the two and comes across as a real playboy.

Michelle Pfeiffer plays Elvira. Yeah, some will recognize her as the Catwoman of Batman Returns. The moment Tony Montana sees her, he falls madly in love with her. And this creates a bizarre romance between the two that I never really bought into. Maybe it’s just because I didn’t really understand why she finally fell for him. It just didn’t seem like it. Let’s say he isn’t really a good playboy. Like that one dance in the club, that was so awful, but gold.

Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) is Tony’s sister. She doesn’t really live in crime, although she doesn’t say no to the money she gets through her brother. Tony’s right-hand Manny clearly has a crush on her. Of course Tony’s against it. I have to say, I found this romance much more believable. But this is a mob movie, not a romantic movie.

Push it to the limit

While I was watching this movie and the song “push it to the limit” came up, I added it to my playlist. It really is a good song. But it does feel like a song that you would play in a rocky compilation where he trains for example. A bit misplaced, but didn’t mind at all.

Tony’s empire is growing and everything is very excessive. Unlike other movies, money doesn’t make him happy. In other movies, you sometimes see that the mafia enjoy their money. Here I had the feeling that he was really rich but still lost in life. His wife was a junkie and uninterested, he was paranoid, and it was never enough. Greed can be dangerous.

And of course, there’s a lot of coke. So expect a lot of sniffing and cursing. And all that on his Al Pacino.

Also, it delivers one of the most iconic lines ever: say hello to my little friend! Not only was the line great, but I totally loved the final show off. It made him even more badass as he was shooting everyone he could see.

Conclusion

Scarface is a blissful Al Pacino movie. It is over the top from time to time, but in a good way.

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