The release of Serpico could hardly have been better timed. The Watergate scandal dominated the headlines nearly every day, taking away whatever faith liberals had left in the government. If corruption existed in the Oval Office of the White House, surely it was even more rampant among the beat cops of New York City.

The film begins with an eerie similarity to Carlito's Way (1993), which was also introduced with Al Pacino on a stretcher. The first-time viewer quickly learns that Pacino as Serpico is a policeman whose life is in danger and whose notoriety has reached the highest levels of the department. The rest of the film, then, is in flashback.

This Citizen Kane characteristic is seemingly a flaw, as the characters seen briefly in the opening scenes have come out of nowhere. When they reappear much later in the film, by then they have been long forgotten. However, Lumet effectively uses the foreshadowing technique to build the suspense. While it is inevitable that Serpico will be shot, we don't know how or when.

The film really begins with Serpico graduating from the police academy, young and bursting with ambition and idealism. His physical appearance changes as the film progresses, evolving from an "Adam-12" double into a Greenwich Village bohemian. But his character doesn't change. He stubbornly clings to his ethics, despite enormous pressure to conform.

The irony is that Serpico, while seemingly the only honest cop in New York City, is not trusted by his fellow policeman. He is ostracized because he won't take bribes, and because he threatens to spoil the racketeering of his fellow officers.

In Lumet's surreal take on the police department, the entire force has essentially become a crime organization. Like the Mafia, they parcel out territories, shakedown street losers, and target the squealers. They beat suspects, and show complete indifference to crime that occurs under their very noses. The graft dwarfs their modest salaries. The Policemen also steal from Serpico, taking credit for his arrests. They try to steal his soul as well.

Serpico gradually realizes that his superiors are all much more interested in their department's reputation than they are in resolving the corruption. Whining, relentless, and completely incorruptible, Serpico manages to alienate everyone, including his best friend (Tony Roberts) and a series of girlfriends (Barbara Eda-Young, Cornelia Sharpe).

Al Pacino had starred in The Godfather (1972) the year before, but had received only a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his efforts. Presumably, the Academy did not want to have the relative newcomer prevent Marlon Brando from taking home the statuette for Best Actor. Their scheme went for naught when Brando didn't show up for the Awards ceremony.

The Golden Globes had been more kind to Pacino, nominating him as Best Actor for The Godfather and awarding him Best Actor for Serpico. Pacino did receive an Oscar nomination, but lost to Jack Lemmon. Pacino also landed a British Academy Awards Best Actor nomination, losing to Jack Nicholson.

The British Academy also nominated Mikis Theodorakis for his quirky classical score, which often seemed to belong to a different film. The dramatic moments in Serpico are often given short shrift by Theodorakis, in stark contrast with the richly sentimental and sympathetic music from Nina Rota in The Godfather.

Serpico did receive one other Oscar nomination, for its adapted screenplay. Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler collaborated on the script, which was based on the recent Peter Maas bestselling biography. Salt had won an Oscar a few years before, for Midnight Cowboy (1969).

Lumet and the writers wisely eschewed Serpico's Italian upbringing, which was developed at length in the book. The director instead dramaticized his love life and his heartbreaking efforts to reform the New York police.

The success of Serpico led to a short-lived television series, "Serpico" (1976), which had David Birney in the title role. Meanwhile, Pacino and Lumet re-united for another true-story crime drama set in New York City, Dog Day Afternoon. Pacino was nominated as Best Actor for that film as well, but he would not win an Oscar until his eighth nomination, in 1993 for Scent of a Woman.

Lumet continued to pursue his fascination with police corruption in New York City. Prince of the City (1981) was followed by Q & A (1990) and Night Falls on Manhattan (1997). The big break in Lumet's career was 12 Angry Men (1957), a courtroom drama set in New York City. His directorial instinct for crime and corruption is at its best, though, when combined with black humor, as was the case with Network (1976) and the unjustly forgotten The Anderson Tapes (1971). (75/100)

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Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age