Serpico (1973)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:36
Fresh:33
Rotten:3
Average Rating:8/10
Consensus: Serpico is an engrossing, immediate depiction of 1973 New York and includes a turn by a young Pacino that's both ferocious and career changing.
Synopsis: Shot on location on the crime-filled streets of New York City, Sidney Lumet's unflinching adaptation of Peter Maas's best-selling book is a rousing portrait of courage in the face of insidious... [More]
Starring: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire
Director: Sidney Lumet
Reviews for Serpico
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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an acting tour de force for Al Pacino Full Review |
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Lumet and screenwriters Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler can't do anything but skim rapidly over the surface of their tale. Full Review |
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A- |
Imbued with mythic and even religious dimensions, Al Pacino's resourceful, Oscar-nominated performance takes Lumet's quinessential 1970s New York film beyond the realm of a cop-corruption drama. Full Review |
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5/5 |
Al Pacino delivers a powerful performance in this compelling biopic of a cop and a city's police force. Full Review |
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4/5 |
Memorable, thought-provoking and courageous. Full Review |
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Sidney Lumet's direction adeptly combines gritty action and thought-provoking comment. Full Review |
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5/5 |
Exibindo segurança e intensa presença cênica, Pacino demonstra inteligência ao criar um imenso contraste entre a futura angústia de Serpico e a maneira irreverente e jovial com que este surge nas cenas logo após formar-se como agente da Lei. Full Review |
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4/4 |
When all is said and done, Pacino is the riveting presence that makes the movie work and it is difficult to imagine any other actor in the part. Full Review |
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A virtuoso performance by Al Pacino and some expert location work by Sidney Lumet add up to a tour de force genre piece that transcends the supercop conventions to create a moving, engrossing portrait of Frank Serpico. Full Review |
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Another problem, these days, is Pacino's characterisation; he seems at times more like a misplaced hippy than a plainclothes cop. Full Review |
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One of the best films of our time, and our grandkids' time. "Serpico" is pure Pacino, powerful as hell. Full Review |
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5/5 |
Fantastic.
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85/100 |
Very much an Al Pacino vehicle, not that this is a bad thing. Full Review |
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4/4 |
A quintessential New York director made this quintessential New York movie in 1973, with Pacino at his best as an honest cop who turns on his crooked colleagues. Full Review |
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Lumet's biopic of Frank Serpico, the virtuous cop who exposed a network of graft in the NYPD, feels depressingly relevant. Full Review |
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5/5 |
Pacino is a tiny terror.
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5/5 |
No review available.
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5/5 |
No review available.
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B- |
A true story about an honest NYC police officer dealing with police corruption. Full Review |
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4/5 |
No review available.
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CommentLatest News for Serpico
April 09, 2008:
Total Recall: The 10 Most Corrupt Cops in Movies
In honor of David Ayer's Street Kings we did a little bad-to-worse survey of the boys who soil their blue. Some of them are hot, some of them caustic, but all of them are... More...
March 09, 2006:
Trailer Bulletin: Find Me Guilty
Wondering what Vin Diesel's been up to lately? Well, he's been off making a fact-based courtroom flick with ... legendary director Sidney Lumet, that's who. Entitled "Find... More...
July 21, 2005:
In Other News...Rose McGowan, Al Pacino, Daryl Hannah, and James Doohan
Ah, Tinseltown romances. Rumor has it there's a new hot couple in town, and they're bound to give TomKat, Bennifer II and Brangelina a run for their publicity-generating money.... More...
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