It's quite probably the film that ruined Al Pacino - hell, the man's been chewing scenery ever since - but you can just about excuse Scarface for that as it's also hands-down Brian De Palma's most grossly indulgent, excessive, balls-to-the-wall entertaining film. In this gangster epic remake, Pacino plays a Cuban immigrant in Miami taking the short path to power and fortune via a life of crime, realising that the American Dream comes not through hard work but through cartoonish ruthlessness. This being De Palma, Scarface is undeniably an opulent, stylised affair complete with levels of slick violence few mainstream filmmakers can get away with - but the film really belongs to another man. 11 years after he made his name as Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Pacino takes another run at playing the ambitious US gangster in Scarface. He has the most fun he's seemingly had in his career in the process, taking it way over the top but still keeping his Tony Montana grounded somewhere in an insane, cocaine-fuelled reality.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
