Serpico (1973)

• Year: 1973
• Released: 05 Dec 1973
• Country: Italy, United States
• Adwords: Nominated for 2 Oscars. 8 wins & 13 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070666/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/serpico
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/serpico
• Available in: 720p, 1080p, 2160p
• Language: English, Italian, Spanish
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
• Runtime: 130 min
• Writer: Peter Maas, Waldo Salt, Norman Wexler
• Director: Sidney Lumet
• Cast: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe
• Keywords: new york city, police, corruption, money, undercover cop,

	7.7/10
	81/100
	91% – Critics
	88% – Audience

Serpico Storyline

Biopic of the New York City detective whose anti-corruption efforts in the 1960s and early 1970s led to the creation of the Knapp Commission and the uncovering of widespread corruption of police officials at all levels. All of his life, Frank Serpico had wanted to be a policeman. He learns at an early stage in his career however that even the cop on the beat is somewhat corrupt accepting free meals and the like. As he advances in his career he finds that corruption is rampant, particularly in the Plainclothes Division, where they collect more in graft that they do in salary. His refusal to take any money puts him in bad stead with his colleagues to the point that his life may be in danger. Transferred to the Narcotics Squad, he is shot by a drug dealer when his partners fail to support him. Serpico resigned from the NYPD in 1972.

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Serpico Movie Reviews

Serpico: A Name That Became Famous

There have so many crooked-cops-themed films in the past 30 years that this film has lost a lot of its shock-and-awe. The long hair, wild clothes, beads, etc. really date this film, too, it being so early ’70s in looks. It’s almost become a “period piece” as if it were the Roaring Twenties except its the Sleazy Seventies.

All you have to do is look at the party scene in here and you’ll get a glimpse at the early ’70s, and most of it is not good. What IS good is Al Pacino’s acting, of course. There have been very few films in which he starred that didn’t displaying his acting talents to the fullest. This one, along with Dog Day Afternoon and few others, put him “on the map,” making him a big star. He’s been a “star” ever since.

This is a fairly long film but, like Pacino, it’s rarely boring. The name of Pacino’s character, “Serpico,” has become synonymous with “honest cop.” It demonstrates what a strong impact this movie had on millions of people.

Gritty? Yes. Profane? Yes; Memorable? Most definitely. When you speak of modern-day “classics,” this film is one of them.

I wonder how much things have changed.

“Serpico” is a well made but incredibly depressing film. It’s the story of a real life cop, Frank Serpico, and his experiences working in New York City….and the widespread corruption all around him. For about a dozen years he worked for the police and again and again he tried to get the higher ups in the department to investigate fellow police officers taking kickbacks from various hoods…mostly bookies, drug dealers and the like. However, nothing seemed to come of his allegations and ultimately very little seemed to happen to improve things each time he went to his superiors. In fact, things got VERY bad for Serpico and as you watch, you know sooner or later he’d pay for trying to do the right thing.

The film is very well made…with nice acting and a gritty realism. It’s not surprising that the film was nominated for two Oscars…with one for Al Pacino in the title role. Well worth seeing and a great film…but also one that easily could leave you depressed because you wonder how much has changed since the early 1970s. In the case of Serpico, apparently BEING corrupt is looked on more favorably by your fellow police than turning in the corrupt cops.

Diogenes, Have You Looked In The NYPD?

For his second Academy Award nomination and his first in the Best Actor category, Al Pacino essayed the title role in Serpico, the true story of an incorruptible cop and a man who Diogenes could have ceased his search for an honest man with.

As I’m sure many idealistic young people do, Frank Serpico joined the New York Police Department with hopes of making a difference in society. What he found was a systemic culture of corruption there and faced his own crisis of conscience.

Nobody’s ever decided where the line is to be drawn. A free meal at a local diner all the way to big payoffs from drug dealers. The police in this film run the gamut, except for Pacino who won’t take a dime. His very honesty makes him a marked man.

The only problem that I have with Serpico is that he tends to be too self righteous. I do wonder if the real Frank Serpico, who is very much alive, is that way. He seems to repel all possible allies. Personally, I think at some point he should have put his papers in and taken the lesser pension at a point way before the near tragedy which does happen to him.

If the script makes him too self righteous, Al Pacino’s skill as a player and Sidney Lumet’s direction level it out and make Serpico someone we can sympathize with. There’s a lot subtlety there in every move, in every facial expression, Al Pacino has even under that heavy beard.

Serpico got a nomination for Best Screenplay adapted from another source, it was adapted from Peter Maas’s biographical study. Al Pacino unfortunately lost the Best Actor Oscar that year to Jack Lemmon for Save the Tiger. Oddly enough Save the Tiger is about another man at a crossroads in his life and his choice is break the law.

Sidney Lumet does love New York, so many of his good films are based and shot there. This one is no exception. I recognized many of the locations of the scenes. Every New Yorker ought to see this film just for that.

And I think Diogenes can end his search.