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Jarrale Daniels
Mr. Hackney
English 101: Rhetoric
22 October 2014

Say Hello to My Little Review

Everyone has a favorite gangster movie. Many directors have tried their hand at
perfecting the craft of the gangster movie. However, its difficult to make a movie that will not
only be popular when it is released, but also will be a classic decades later. Scarface is one of
those movies. Director Brian De Palma depicts the story of Tony Montana (played by Al
Pacino), a Cuban refugee who has come to America in an attempt to have a better life. Montana
and his friend, Manny, soon discover that washing dishes in a restaurant in Miami is not the job
they are looking for. They get involved in the Miami drug trade after being associated with a
contract killing in a Florida refugee camp in order to get a green card. Montana soon finds
himself working for the big time drug dealer, Frank Lopez. He earns his credit when doing a
drug trade with Colombian drug dealers takes a turn for the worse. After losing one of the guys
who was with them, Montana and Manny show their ruthless aggression by shooting the dealer
in the streets of Miami and getting away with the cash and the drugs. This act of violence gave
Frank confidence in Tony, increasing his role in the business. As time went on, Montana lusted it
all. The drugs, the money, the power, even Franks girl. He quickly makes his way to the top of
Franks empire, turning it into his own. However, once at the top, Tonys uninterest and rookie
mistakes lead to his ultimate demise. Some say this movie is a classic, however some also see the
movie as a failure. Although Roger Ebert and James Berardinelli agree on the fact that the film

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effectively depicts Tony Montanas disinterest in being at the top, they disagree about the quality
of the performance of the supporting characters as well as Pacinos lead role as Montana.

Both Berardinelli and Ebert believe that, at least to an extent, Scarface effectively depicts
Tony Montanas loss of direction after receiving everything he worked for. Most gangster films
have followed a certain pattern. They all tell the story of the main character earning all he strived
for in life and then, in a dramatic way, he loses it all. Scarface does such, making it predictable
(Ebert), however there is something making it stand out. What is original about this movie is the
attention it gives to how little Montana enjoys it while he has it (Ebert). The it Ebert mentions
is the fame, money, girls, drugs, glitz, and glamour Tony has at his fingertips. Ebert believes that
director Brian De Palma has successfully displayed Montanas story in two scenes in particular.
The first is a nightclub scene in which Montana realizes the impatience and boredom (Ebert)
that the cocaine has lead him to feel. This illustrates Montanas complete boredom at his current
position. The second is when Tony throws his face into a pile of cocaine in a desperate attempt to
receive a boost of energy. This scene shows Montanas hopeless attempt to gain energy and
meaning. Similarly, Berardinelli believes that a scene in the movie added depth to the storyline
of Tonys lack of motivation once at the top. He states that the restaurant scene, where Tony
realizes that life has lost its meaning, stands out.. Berardinelli however criticized the movie for
its casting and performance of not only the supporting characters, but also Montana.

Ebert and Berardinelli do not see eye to eye when the topic is the performance of the
supporting cast. Ebert, who compared the movie to the likes of The Godfather, believes the
movie is a gallery of wonderful supporting performances. Ebert then gives praise to Steven
Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Loggia, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and sums up each

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persons role in the movie. Berardinelli, however, believed that the supporting actors Loggia,
Mastrantonio, and Bauer (excluding Pfeiffer), were miscast, stating that all of them are awful.
He then attempts to find the answer to why the acting was bad by questioning whether it was
their accents that affected the view of their character, or whether they truly are bad actors. Even
Bauerwho is Cubanwas not protected from Berardinellis attacks. The critic stated that
[Bauers] Latino heritage doesnt compensate for the stiffness of his performance
(Berardinelli), showing his dislike of his performance. Berardinelli did not only highlight bad
acting in the supporting characters, but also criticized Pacinos role.

As well as disagreeing on the quality of the supporting actors performance, they have
contrasting views on how Pacino executed the character of Tony Montana. As said before,
Berardinelli believed all the actors contributed to what he thought was bad acting, even Pacino.
He believed that Pacinos over-the-top nature made Tony Montana turn into a live-action
cartoon character. In contrast, Ebert believed Pacino played the character so well that Tony
Montana stays in the memory of the viewer. Ebert also gives praise to Pacino because of how
the actor makes Montana somebody we can identify with because of his perfectly
understandable motivations. While Ebert applaudes Pacinos arguably wonderful performance,
Berardinelli believes Tony is merely just a caricature. He believes that this is because of how
over-the-top Pacino was, and believes that Montana would be better if Pacino toned it down a
little (Berardinelli).

In the end, Roger Ebert and James Berardinelli do believe that Tony Montanas boredom
of being a primary player is effectively portrayed in Scarface. Scarface, in fact, is an innovative
film because of the attention to how much Montana has lost his attraction to the elite status and

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role. Although Ebert believes that the star-studded cast of Pacino, Bauer, Pfeiffer, Loggia, and
Mastrantonio made the movie a gallery of specific individuals, Berardinelli believes the acting
was rather poor. Even though the critics can only find a common ground on the fact that De
Palma effectively portrayed Montanas boredom, there is no debate that Scarface is a very
influential movie in the gangster genre of film. It will forever be imitated whether it be the
originality of the film or Montanas infamous catchphrase, Say hello to my little friend.

Works Cited
Berardinelli, James. "Scarface." Reelviews.net. N.p., 8 Apr. 2009. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
De Palma, Brian, dir. Scarface. 1983. Film.
Ebert, Roger. "Scarface." Rogerebert.com. N.p., 9 Dec. 1983. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.